Advancing Toward Redemption
by Onimiman
Summary: Based on a few paragraphs in James Luceno's Millennium Falcon novel, which can be read as the opening here, this is a what-if. Here, Jacen returns from the dead so he could begin his advancement toward redemption. It won't be easy, especially now that he's shunned as public enemy number one from the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi Order, particularly from his own friends and family.
1. Chapter 1

_In the same way that the Yuuzhan Vong had left vestiges of themselves and their exotic savagery on Coruscant and a host of other worlds, the war itself had opened wounds that were long in healing, leaving scars that refused to fade. Chewbacca was one of those; Anakin, the Solos' youngest son who had seemed destined to live forever, another._

_Years later Jacen's death had reawakened all the anguish._

_Jacen, who in a real sense had come closest to understanding the Yuuzhan Vong and had looked to the Force for a peaceful resolution to the war. Only to fall... to die and merge with the Force rather than disappear into it. Or was he, as Han sometimes liked to believe, merely exiled, as the Yuuzhan Vong had been to the sentient world of Zonama Sekot, and advancing toward redemption? _

As if she were a witch of times old in the histories of thousands of planets throughout the galaxy, Magister Danni Quee swayed the entirety of her body to the chants over the hollowed-out pit in the very center of La'okio's ground. The repetitive, guttural chants of the Yuuzhan Vong around her acted as one of the key ingredients to this ceremony, for they shouted in their alien language, "Return, for we can be saved! Return, for we can be saved! Return, for we can be saved!"

The ceremony went on for a full hour, not a single individual involved waning in their resolve, before a great fire flared from the open hole. The chants from the Yuuzhan Vong were silenced as they all stared in wonderment and profound happiness on their faces. Their human Magister, meanwhile, halted her sways, fell still as she widened her body as if they were pulled to either direction by invisible hands, dropped her head so that it faced the ground, and her eyes closed as the brilliant fire before her rocketed to the night sky of Zonama Sekot.

When the fire died out abruptly, the naked form of a brown-haired human male took the place of the hole in the ground, laying on it in a fetal position. All was silent and still as the crowd looked upon the man with great trepidation.

The man's eyes fluttered open, and he looked up, apparently unaware of his surroundings, to find the blond-haired Magister gazing upon him intently.

"Danni?" he asked.

The Magister smiled as she bent down and took the man's face in both hands. "Yes, Jacen, it's me; and I've finally brought you back from the Force." No more words were said as she gave him a long, passionate kiss on the mouth.

.

Enveloped in each others' embrace as Jacen and Danni cuddled up in the latter's bed, the both of them completely nude beneath the sheets, Jacen asked, "How did you bring me back? Why did you bring me back?"

Danni lifted her head from her lover's chest to regard him. "The Force willed it, Jacen. And I heeded its will."

"Why does the Force want me back, Danni?" Jacen asked. "After all I did..."

The former scientist placed a finger on his mouth to silence him. "That's not for you to judge. And it's not for me to judge, either. All we can do is allow the Force to guide us where we're needed. It's how you helped the Yuuzhan Vong when you defeated Onimi."

Jacen made a wry face as he stroked Danni's hair. "Speaking of the Yuuzhan Vong, why were they there when you brought me back?"

Danni smiled. "Because they need you, now more than ever. You're their salvation, their guide to their return to the Force. Sekot and I have done all we can to help them, and while we've been somewhat successful..."

Jacen raised an eyebrow in concern. "What, what's wrong?"

Danni sighed. "Without you, I don't think any of us'll have the time to see to it that the Yuuzhan Vong overall will be able to return to the Force."

"What do you mean?"

"I had a vision, Jacen," Danni told him worriedly. "I saw the galaxy in flames. I've seen the Bringer of Chaos return from the depths of the Maw. And the only way that she can truly be defeated, the only way that Balance can truly be maintained from now 'til the end of time, is for you to fulfill your destiny."

Jacen sighed. "If I had a special destiny, Danni... if the Force saw me worthy enough to come back from the dead to fulfill it, why did I fall in the first place?"

Danni laid her head back on Jacen's chest. "We all have to fall sometime, Jacen. It's the only way we can ever really learn from our mistakes."

"But I've made some pretty irredeemable mistakes, Danni," Jacen said. He then locked gazes with her. "I still remember when Aunt Mara told me that I was just like him. Like Palpatine. And then she died because of me." His eyes began tearing up in remembrance. "How could the Force forgive me for that? I can't even forgive myself for all the evil I've done."

Danni frowned sympathetically as she began wiping Jacen's eyes with the sheet of her blanket. "Again, that's not for you to decide, Jacen. The Force chose you for a reason, and it isn't in our position to question that reason."

Jacen grimaced. "Well, I'm still going to ask questions. Like why didn't the Force choose anyone else? Like Anakin or..." He trailed off before allowing himself to lay back against the bed and sighed with a defeated tone. "You're right. It isn't our place to ask why."

"And it obviously frustrates you," Danni stated. "Especially when you spent most of your Jedi career questioning the nature of the Force."

Jacen laughed humorlessly. "Yeah. And look where that got me."

Danni made a wry face. "Well, maybe that's why you were chosen. Because you ask so much of the Force."

Jacen looked back at his lover with appreciation. "Like what is my ultimate destiny?"

Danni nodded as she reciprocated his smile.


	2. Chapter 2

The day after he had been brought back to life, Jacen, now clothed in a modest poncho, shorts, and sandals, left Danni's grashal to regard the sunny morning in La'okio. Around him, Yuuzhan Vong, who he recognized as being part of both the former elite castes and of the Shamed castes, worked in harmony to accomplish their morning chores, such as tending to their gardens, washing their trousers via outdoor methods, etc. He noticed that most of those who were of the elite castes, particularly the warriors, seemed most reluctant to be working with the Extolled, what with the dirty looks given to the deformed Yuuzhan Vong.

Continuing to look about, Jacen spotted an especially familiar Yuuzhan Vong approaching him and smiled at the gray-skinned alien.

"Harrar," he said as he shook the former priest's three-fingered hand. "It's good to see you after so many years."

"I agree, _Jeedai_ Solo," Harrar returned once they stopped shaking hands. "So, if you do not mind telling me, what was death like?"

Jacen frowned in remembrance. "Damnation," he answered. "I suffered for all that I've done before I died."

Harrar looked back the young Jedi with concern. "What have you done?"

Jacen sighed before explaining the horrible things that he did during the Second Galactic Civil War. As the young human recounted his actions, Harrar only stood there nodding in understanding, his expression belaying any judgment he held against the hero who saved his people from the clutches of Shimrra Jamaane.

When Jacen finished his tale, Harrar said, "Well, given what you just told me, I'm more disappointed in your friends and family than I am in you, Jacen."

The Jedi's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"I would have thought better of your parents, your uncle, your aunt, and especially your sister," the former priest elaborated. "It seems like they did very little to try to save you. Now, as inexcusable as I think your actions to be, I find those who shunned you to be even more deplorable. They think they are so righteous and fair, but they never did anything to really try to help you. I wonder why that is."

Jacen grimaced. "Well, even if that's true, it's still my fault. I let that witch Lumiya manipulate me for her own ends, and I only escalated a pointless war that did nothing but make my friends and family think that I was a monster who merely replaced the hero of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion."

Harrar laid a hand on Jacen's shoulder. "But now you are back. You have a second chance now. You have the opportunity to prove them wrong, and show those you loved where they erred."

"I have no interest in showing my friends and family where they erred in trying to help me," Jacen said. "I only wanna make things right. And because of me, something evil is now free to roam the galaxy."

"What evil?" Harrar asked.

"The Bringer of Chaos," Jacen answered soberly. "I saw her during my five-year journey after the war against your people ended, Harrar. When I pushed for the war - the war that killed me - I thought I was preventing her escape. Instead, I've only ensured that she'll return. And because of that, even if she won't be the downfall of the Jedi Order, I fear that I've only started the chain of events that will lead to the destruction of all that my uncle fought for."

"Then you will have to leave us, will you not?" Harrar asked with regret.

Jacen blinked in sympathy before responding. "I'm afraid I have no choice. Or else no one will have a future. Sekot will die, along with the Yuuzhan Vong, Harrar. This is the only way I can see to it that you all have a chance to see a better tomorrow for your people."

"When will you have to go?" Harrar asked.

"I can only stay for the week," Jacen answered. "By the end of that, I'll have a ship to finally leave Zonama and return to the Jedi Order so that the Bringer of Chaos can be defeated."

Harrar smiled. "In that case, would you be so kind as to help me with my practices, _Jeedai_ Solo?"

"Practices?" Jacen inquired. "What do you mean, Harrar?"

Instead of answering, Harrar reached a hand past Jacen, and the young Jedi turned to find a hoe in a nearby garden laying there suddenly float up a foot off the ground. It hovered in the air for a few seconds before it was gently lowered back down.

Jacen turned back to give Harrar a smile. "Impressive," he said. "Most impressive."

"Thank you," Harrar nodded. "I was the first to be blessed with the gift of the Force by Sekot, given that I had been here longer than any other Yuuzhan Vong."

"I imagine you're quite a role model among the Extolled," Jacen guessed.

"I am, as a matter of fact," Harrar said. "They look up to me as someone who has a better chance of connecting them with the Force again than either Sekot or Magister Quee can."

"They've asked you to connect them to the Force?" Jacen asked. At the former priest's nod, Jacen inquired further, "And?"

"I have been helping them for all that I can," Harrar replied stoically.

"It's a struggle, isn't it?" Jacen figured.

"Somewhat," Harrar answered with a shrug.

"I suppose you've been successful with most of the Extolled who've come to you?" Jacen asked.

"Some of them," Harrar answered. "The others, well... it breaks my heart every time I hear that someone in the Extolled commits suicide because they can never touch the Force."

Jacen grimaced. "I promise you, Harrar, after I defeat the Bringer of Chaos, I will come back to Zonama and I will do everything in my power to help your people out."

Harrar smiled without mirth. "I certainly know you will, _Jeedai_ Solo."


	3. Chapter 3

"So," Jacen said to Harrar as they walked along one of La'okio's trailed paths, "have anyone who were in the elite castes warmed up to the idea of embracing the Force rather than the gods yet?"

"Some of them have," Harrar answered soberly. "Most are still resistant to it, though. They even use the excuse that because most of the Extolled cannot gain the Force, it is not worth it to be turning their backs on the gods."

"But didn't Nas Choka say that the gods had abandoned the Yuuzhan Vong when Shimrra died?" Jacen asked. While he knew for a fact that it was because of Onimi's death that Choka had ordered the surrender, he didn't feel that it was necessary to broach that with anyone who didn't already know.

"Well, that is why Nas Choka is one of the few from the elite castes to at least pay lip service to the new ways," Harrar said. "It is a pity that the likes of him do not do more to convince others who were once on top of our previous society to see the folly of continuing to follow those barbaric ideals."

Before Jacen could reply, he and Harrar came at an intersection along the trail, and they stopped to find Nom Anor walking past them. The former Prefect of Yuuzhan'tar - or rather, what the Yuuzhan Vong once called Yuuzhan'tar in the place of Coruscant - didn't seem to notice them at first. But when he looked up and to his side, he abruptly turned his head back to his original heading and hurried along in his pace.

"So how's he doing here?" Jacen asked with barely-contained scorn as he and the former priest continued on their path.

"Nom Anor is doing well enough here," Harrar said, his own tone seeping with leftover contempt for the treacherous Prefect. "Well, as well as he could be, given how despised he is among those once in the elite castes."

"Yeah, I guess leading a revolution headed by Shamed Ones against a tyrannical empire that's benefited the elite greatly wouldn't exactly earn him any favors with said former elites," Jacen commented. "I don't suppose he's been the target of assassinations of those who wanna go back to the old days?"

"I am surprised to find that he has lived this long, so far," Harrar said. "And it is certainly not for a lack of trying on the part of the has-been elites."

"Does Nom Anor get any help from the Extolled?" Jacen asked. "You know, given what he did for them as Yu'shaa the Prophet."

"He still has a significant amount of support among the Extolled for his actions," Harrar answered. "That is mainly why he is not outright attacked in public by any of the former elites - at least not anymore - as the likes of the warriors are keen enough to understand that widespread violence would only be halted by Sekot in an instant. At least, that is what everyone here thinks."

"Well, at least your people are on the right path to peace, Harrar," Jacen said. "It's rocky, I'll say, and it mighty take another generation or two by my guess, but you're all on the right path."

"Thank you," Harrar replied. "Although I fear that we may soon regress to our violent ways again, and as unbelievable as it might sound, I believe that it might be the Extolled who will spark the beginning of bloodshed in La'okio."

"Why do you think that?" Jacen asked.

"Some of the Extolled think that it is because of the resistance offered by most of the former elites that the Yuuzhan Vong as a whole are not able to reach out to the Force," Harrar explained. "Hence, I say that it is all too possible that the Extolled will launch a war against those who once oppressed them, even if it means that it will only diminish their chances of ever regaining the Force."

"But there are Extolled who are managing to connect with the Force, as you pointed out," Jacen argued. "Surely, it must've occurred to the Extolled community that those who did gain it weren't held back by the former elites."

"Very few understand that, _Jeedai_ Solo," Harrar said. "Or at least, very few want to understand that."

Jacen nodded in sympathy. "Groups can become too narrow-minded and may only want to resort to violence when it seems that there's no other way to resolve a problem," he said.

"It was the folly of our ancestors when the true Yuuzhan'tar stripped them of the Force," Harrar agreed. "I hope Sekot does not suffer its parent's resultant fate."

Jacen looked away to contemplate something. A few seconds of silence between him and Harrar later, he looked back to the former priest and said, "I think I have an idea to at least delay any widespread violence between the Extolled and the former elites."

"Oh?" Harrar asked.

"Do you know any Extolled who were unable to connect with the Force and yet haven't killed themselves yet, Harrar?" Jacen inquired.

"Quite a few," Harrar answered. "Why?"

"Because I think that, if I take one with me on my journey back to the greater galaxy," Jacen began, "it might renew the Yuuzhan Vong's regaining of the Force."

"How?" Harrar asked.

"Honestly, I'm not quite sure," Jacen admitted. "But I think it's worth a shot. Tell me, do you know how exactly the process of returning the Yuuzhan Vong back to the Force works, Harrar?"

"Do you remember the cave that you took me to here on Zonama, back when you were with your aunt, uncle, and the others near the end of the Great War?" the former priest asked.

Jacen nodded.

"Well, the process is quite simple, actually," Harrar said. "A Yuuzhan Vong is selected by an envoy from Sekot - usually Magister Quee - and they are taken to that cave for Sekot to properly judge them worthy of regaining the Force."

"That's it?" Jacen asked incredulously. "Well, if it were that simple, I wonder why _everyone_ in the Extolled at least isn't gaining the Force."

"Would you like to ask Sekot herself?" Harrar inquired.

Jacen shrugged. "Good a start as any," he said.

"I do wonder how your method will be any better than Sekot's in terms of making sure we regain the Force," Harrar said. "Would you care to elaborate?"

"I would, if I actually had one beyond taking one with me back to the rest of the galaxy," Jacen said wryly.

Harrar sighed. "I hope you can help us better than Sekot has been."


	4. Chapter 4

Alone now, Jacen entered the cave that he'd visited all those years ago; the one he visited with Uncle Luke, Aunt Mara, Harrar, and the others, in which Sekot revealed that the Yuuzhan Vong had been stripped of the Force back in their home galaxy.

He stopped in the middle of the dark cave when Sekot's feminine voice, taking on the voice of its previous Magister, Jabitha Hal - the Magister who was here when Jacen first visited - had said, "Why are you here, Jacen Solo?"

"You don't know?" Jacen inquired.

"I may be of supreme intellect, but it is not infinite," Sekot replied. "So, why are you here?"

"I'd like to know why not all the Yuuzhan Vong who are willing to connect with the Force actually connect with it," Jacen answered.

"Because most Yuuzhan Vong are not worthy of reclaiming what was taken from their ancestors," Sekot answered stiffly.

Jacen raised an eyebrow in askance. "What do you mean?"

"I sense darkness even in the hearts of many of the Extolled," Sekot elaborated. "After so many eons of violence and depravity in the void between this galaxy and the previous one, the Yuuzhan Vong's love of savagery and brutality has become a permanent stain upon the species; one which very few, like Harrar, can ever overcome."

At first thought, Jacen felt shocked at what Sekot told him. But when he really put his mind to it, he found that it wasn't really all that surprising. He recalled the time when the Galactic Alliance took Coruscant back from the Yuuzhan Vong all those years ago, and found that the Shamed Ones seemed to demonstrate a love of killing their enemies that rivaled even the dedication brought upon by the warrior caste.

As well, Jacen also recalled a time prior to his transformation to Darth Caedus, when Tahiri Veila - yet to be tainted by Caedus's manipulation - had told him one of her stories about living on Zonama after the war. It was the last Zonama story she told, as it took place just before she and Tekli left the living world to join the Myrkr mission survivors, like Jaina and Jacen, at Qoribu to help UnuThul and the Killiks fight against the Chiss Ascendancy.

The story was about a former subaltern named Sal Ghator who, with the aide of his fellow ex-warriors, was stealing from an Extolled grashal garden, led by one Bava. Jacen agreed that it was wrong for Ghator to be stealing anything, but Tahiri thought that Bava and his Extolled cohorts were of equal blame, for they weren't living in a mixed group with non-Extolled Yuuzhan Vong. And while it was true that that was more Ghator and his compatriots' faults for not wanting to live in mixed grashals with who they still deemed to be Shamed Ones, Tahiri saw that Bava and his Extolled fellows were looking to the likes of Ghator and his cronies as the new Shamed Ones. It was no wonder, then, why Tahiri didn't stop Ghator from smacking Bava in the face for that claim.

It was clear before, to Jacen, following his resurrection, that even with the likes of Harrar giving promise to the Yuuzhan Vong's hope of redemption, that the species overall still had a long way to go before fully embracing peace and, by extension, the Force. But with this flash of insight, Jacen saw how it would take even longer than previously thought for the Yuuzhan Vong to be fully saved.

"I understand now," Jacen told Sekot. "Still, do you think I can be of any help of bringing the Yuuzhan Vong to salvation through the Force?"

"You have enough to deal with in your return to the greater galaxy, as well as your confrontation with the Bringer of Chaos, the one known as Abeloth," Sekot reminded him. "Why would you take upon yourself the added weight of responsibility for the Yuuzhan Vong now?"

"Danni told me that I could," Jacen said. "And the Yuuzhan Vong are looking up to me now."

"But it does not mean that you have to, Jacen," Sekot said. "That is my responsibility."

"But it was me who believed that the Yuuzhan Vong can be saved," Jacen said. "And even with the relatively slow progress that's been going on here, it still shows that I've been proven right."

"So what do you think you can do?" Sekot asked.

"Well, like I told Harrar," Jacen said, "I intend to take a Yuuzhan Vong with me and try to help him or her regain the Force as I go along on my own journey."

"But you cannot do that," Sekot told him. "Even with the importance that the Force has placed upon you to fight the Bringer of Chaos, only I have the ability to give the Yuuzhan Vong back the Force as I see fit."

Jacen's eyes widened in realization. "Then maybe that's how I can help," Jacen said. "I can make whichever Yuuzhan Vong I take with me gain the worthiness to attain the Force. And if I can do that, then maybe the Yuuzhan Vong have a better chance of regaining the Force afterward."

"An intriguing idea," Sekot admitted. "Then you will take Nom Anor with you."

"Nom Anor?" Jacen asked incredulously.

"Yes, Nom Anor," Sekot echoed. "If you can give him a chance to redeem himself of his crimes, just as the Force is giving you a chance to redeem your own crimes, Jedi Solo, then the Yuuzhan Vong overall will be given that greater chance to prove that they are worthy of the Force again."

"But I-"

"You what, Jacen?" Sekot interrupted. "Are you hesitant about selecting Nom Anor as your companion to your journey because of your past with him? Surely, if you are worthy of a second chance of life by the hands of the Force, then Nom Anor is, too."

Jacen opened his mouth to argue, only to find himself speechless. Again, when he really thought about it, Sekot was right. If he was worthy of a second chance in life, why not Nom Anor?

"Well?" Sekot asked.

Jacen sighed and nodded. "I'll take Nom Anor."


	5. Chapter 5

Cautiously, Nom Anor looked over his shoulder, keeping his one eye sharp for any suspicious looks thrown his way by Yuuzhan Vong - particularly from the non-Extolled - before turning back and unlocking the door to his grashal. He stepped inside, promptly closed and locked the door behind him, and then decided to sit down on the comfortable organic couch in the center of his living area.

But just as he sat down, he was suddenly tackled to the floor from behind by a figure unseen from his field of vision, and he was pinned to the living floor by his wrists and ankles.

"I finally got you, Nom Anor," the familiar voice of Zhat Lah said to his left ear. "You'd be surprised how easy it was to trick your grashal's security system with the chemicals concocted by Qelah Kwaad. In return for her service, she only asked that I give you her regards before I kill you."

Nom Anor then let out a gasp of pain as Lah stomped one of his knees into the small of the former Prefect's back before the relative of the Yuuzhan Vong's penultimate warmaster roughly pulled his helpless victim up so that his neck was bared. Holding Nom Anor up with one hand, Lah used his free one to take out a small knife with a dull yet still-sharp blade and held it up to the one-eyed Yuuzhan Vong's throat.

"I'm going to savor this moment, Nom Anor, for all that you've done against the elites," he whispered with sadistic delight.

Before Lah could actually move the blade to slit Nom Anor's throat, their attention was suddenly turned to the opening of the door to the grashal. There, stepping inside was Jacen Solo.

"Let him go, Zhat Lah," Jacen said in a militant tone, "and I promise you, you will be spared of any punishment that Sekot would normally deem necessary for breaking and entering and threatening the life of a fellow Yuuzhan Vong."

"_Jeedai_!" Lah cursed. He then growled as he threw the blade toward Jacen while simultaneously slamming Nom Anor back against the floor.

Meanwhile, the young Jedi ducked out of the way of the blade and managed to stop its trajectory by swiftly catching it by its handle. He then bared the knife at Lah, who was just rushing him. The Yuuzhan Vong traditionalist ducked beneath the swing that would have cut his already-scarred cheek - as Jacen had no intention of seriously harming him - and tackled the Jedi to the ground outside the grashal.

But before Lah could swing down a fist for Jacen's face, the latter used his weaponless hand to punch the alien off of him before kicking both his feet square in his opponent's chest. Lah stumbled back inside the grashal, tripping backward and falling against the floor.

During that time, Jacen already flipped back up to his feet, handed the dull-bladed knife to a particularly haggard-looking member of the Extolled nearby, and ran back inside to continue his fight with Lah.

Upon returning inside, the traditionalist Vong, still downed on his back, launched a stomp-kick toward Jacen's face, which he pivoted away from. However, he tripped back to the floor when Lah used his other leg to wrap it around the human's knees. After Jacen collapsed, Lah was on top of him again, and this time, Jacen couldn't stop him from punching him in the face.

Lah continued to punch the helpless Jacen several times in the face, to the point that his nose began to bloody, before the Jedi managed to center himself through the Force, in spite of the violence being inflicted upon him, and block off one of Lah's fists. He then used his other hand to deliver a solid left cross against his opponent's jawline before delivering a good uppercut with his other hand. One more punch straight in the Yuuzhan Vong's flat-nosed face, and he was off his Jedi opponent, on the floor again, and unconscious.

Jacen then pushed himself to his feet and looked to Nom Anor, who was also standing. "Are you all right?" the Jedi asked the still-conscious Yuuzhan Vong.

The latter looked back at the former in askance. "Since when did you become so concerned about my well-being?" Nom Anor snorted.

"Since Sekot convinced me that I need to take you along on my journey to defeat the Bringer of Chaos," Jacen answered evenly.

"What?" Nom Anor asked, shocked at what he just heard. "Why do I have to come?"

"Even though I have the answer to that, I still ask myself the same question," Jacen said wryly.

"And what is the answer?" Nom Anor asked in an annoyed tone.

"Well, I pretty much made a bet with Sekot," Jacen explained. "She told me that if I can make you good, and thus worthy of gaining the Force on my travels, then I can prove to her that the Yuuzhan Vong overall are worthy of regaining the Force, and not just select few individuals like Harrar."

"I think I'm better off on my own here than out in the greater galaxy, Solo," Nom Anor said derisively. "I stand a better chance against the likes of Zhat Lah and other traditionalists like him than the galaxy's vengeful inhabitants. And it's bad enough we already have ar'krai-focused Bothans in a secluded village on this planet when your aunt and Tahiri Veila brought me here, I don't want to have to face something like a tavern of even a few of those hairy bastards if you take me off Zonama."

"Are you so sure about that?" Jacen asked. "If it weren't for me, you'd be dead by now, your throat slit by a vengeful relative of Tsavong Lah's."

Nom Anor snorted. "Trying to appeal to my sense of guilt, Solo?" he retorted.

"No, just your common sense," Jacen countered. "And given how close you were to having your life ended in this very grashal, Nom Anor, I think you actually stand a better chance with me than without."

Nom Anor was silent before he replied. "I really don't have any choice in the matter anyway, do I now?"

"No, you really don't," Jacen shook his head.

Nom Anor sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll come with you. Provided that I'm still alive by the end of the week, Solo."

Jacen smiled with his cocksure Solo grin. "I'm pretty sure that can happen."

"And we also have to make sure Qelah Kwaad is punished for creating the chemicals that Lah just used to get past my grashal's security system," Nom Anor added.


	6. Chapter 6

There was a knock on the door to Qelah Kwaad's grashal, and the former Master Shaper stood up from her dinner table to walk over to her home's exit. "Who is it?" she asked as she headed to the door.

"It is Zhat Lah," the voice of the ex-warrior came from the other. "It is about Nom Anor."

"What about Nom Ano-" Kwaad was silenced after she opened the door to find the aforementioned former Prefect standing next to the resurrected Jacen Solo standing before her.

"He's right here," the young Jedi said with Lah's voice; a clever Force-trick, Kwaad thought.

"Lah gave me your regards, by the way," Nom Anor added to the former Master Shaper.

Kwaad hesitated before she quickly palmed the door closed, but it was just as abruptly opened again thanks to a literal slight of hand from Solo. By then, however, Kwaad had already turned and rushed back to her kitchen, where she grabbed a dinner knife and continued to run out for the rear exit of her home.

When she palmed the door open there, she found Solo, by himself, standing there. The former Master Shaper turned back, only to find Nom Anor standing there and baring a kitchen knife himself.

"Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way, Kwaad," Jacen said as the female Yuuzhan Vong still had her back to the Jedi. "What's it gonna be-"

He was abruptly cut off from properly finishing his sentence so that he could duck beneath the decapitating swing that Kwaad tried to execute. He then grabbed Kwaad's weapon-wielding hand and used his free one to knock her out with one blow.

After the knife dropped from her hand, Jacen caught the former Master Shaper in his arms, looked back up to Nom Anor, and said wryly, "You forgot to tell Kwaad that she should give your regards to Zhat Lah."

Nom Anor regarded him in askance. "Did you just try to do a holodrama one-liner?"

"Try? You mean I failed at it?" Jacen inquired.

"Yes, you did," Nom Anor answered in a straightforward tone.

Jacen looked back at the former Prefect with mock-scorn. "You know, I think I would've preferred a lie from you, this time," he said jokingly.

.

After they dropped Kwaad off in one of La'okio's temporary prison centers, Jacen and Nom Anor soon ran into Harrar on the way to the latter's grashal.

"Hello, Nom Anor," Harrar said to the former Prefect, his inflection still oozing repressed hatred.

"Hello, Harrar," Nom Anor replied, mirroring the former priest's dirty inflection.

Harrar then looked back at Jacen. "_Jeedai_ Solo, you told me that after you convinced Nom Anor to join you on that journey of yours, you said that you would help me with my Force-wielding practices."

"Well, why don't you come back with us to Nom Anor's grashal then, Harrar?" Jacen asked. "I convinced him that he'd join me if I protected him from the likes of Zhat Lah and Qelah Kwaad's assassination attempts against him."

Harrar sighed. "Very well," he reluctantly agreed before joining Jacen and Nom Anor back to the latter's grashal.

.

Later that night, Danni stepped up to the entrance to Nom Anor's grashal and knocked. When no one answered, she called out, "Jacen! It's me, Danni!" When there was still no response, she used her power as Magister of Zonama to open the door and stepped in to find a fog of humid yet somehow tantalizing air roam the interior of the grashal.

Through the rather thin fog, Danni found Jacen, Harrar, and Nom Anor all sitting on the latter's couch lazily. "Hey, Danni," Jacen replied lethargically with an equally relaxed wave. "We're trying out a clambake in here. Wanna join us?"

"Jacen, what's going on here?" Danni asked.

"Well, we all came back here so I could help Harrar along with his practices, mainly be centering himself through the Force, initiate combat techniques, and even perfecting his telekinesis," Jacen explained. "During that time, though, Nommy here decided to open a bag of..." He looked over at the former Prefect. "Whachu call this, Nommy?"

"Marijuana," Nom Anor replied. "It's one of our crops here in La'okio. Sekot's allowing some of us to smoke this, as she says it helps us become more peaceful."

"Ah," Danni said with a nod. "Well, I guess I can join you, if that's all right with you, gentlemen."

"Don't you have duties as Magister to attend to?" Harrar asked out of curiosity.

"They're done for the day," Danni waved absently. "Unless some apocalyptic cataclysm occurs tonight, I'm off. That's actually why I came here, to see Jacen."

"We can still see each other, if you know what I mean, Danni," Jacen said with a knowing smile and slow nod. "And do so much more."

"You mean sex?" Nom Anor asked.

Jacen looked at the former Prefect with dull incredulity. "No, I meant talk about how large a typical Yuuzhan Vong phallic is. Of course I mean sex, Nommy."

"Well, for the record, I have a big one," Nom Anor said.

Harrar snorted. "Yeah, right."

"Hey, you can't prove that, man!" Nom Anor responded.

"I just did by sensing you lie through the Force," Harrar said. "You may not be able to contact it, but since I, as a Force-using Yuuzhan Vong, act as a bridge between our species and the Force, I can tell when you're lying, Nommy."

"Oh, whatever, yours is probably smaller than mine, anyway," Nom Anor waved before looking away from Harrar.

"I will bet you ten credits if we both throw down our robes, right here, right now, and prove that my phallic is bigger than yours," Harrar said.

"Boys, boys, not in front of the lady here," Jacen interjected.

"No, actually, it's okay," Danni said. "I just need to get a little bit more of this marijuana in my system, and Jacen and I will judge."

"All right, let's get the Magister of this planet high," Nom Anor said.

A little while later, after Danni cuddled up next to Jacen on the couch, the both of them between Nom Anor and Harrar, she said, in a slurred tone, "Okay, guys, let's do it."

Nom Anor and Harrar both lazily stood up, placed themselves before Jacen and Danni, and they pulled their robes down.

"You win, Harrar," Danni said.

"No contest here, Danni's right," Jacen backed up.

Nom Anor groaned in defeat while Harrar smirked at him victoriously as they pulled their robes back up.

"Still, Jacen's bigger than both of yours," Danni admitted. "And speaking of which..." She deliberately trailed off as she looked up at him. "Wanna go upstairs, or rut in front of the contestants here?"

"I'd be fine if you rutted right here," Nom Anor said.

"Me, too," Harrar said.

"Okay, okay, anyone got a credcoin?" Jacen asked.

Nom Anor took out a Sekotan credcoin and tossed it to Jacen, who caught it in spite of his impaired motor functions. The Jedi then said, "Heads, Danni and I go upstairs. Tails, not only do we rut on the floor, but you two have to join us."

"Really?" Danni, Harrar, and Nom Anor all asked at the same time.

"Yeah, none of you are open to that?" Jacen asked.

Danni's brows lifted. "It actually sounds like a good idea, now that I think about it."

Jacen nodded, then tossed the coin.

A little while later, Jacen, Danni, Harrar, and Nom Anor all slept naked on the floor together.


	7. Chapter 7

Needless to say, it was extremely quiet and awkward around Nom Anor's kitchen table as he, Jacen, Danni, and Harrar all sat drinking their steaming cups of caf, deliberately avoiding eye contact with one another all throughout.

"You know, I think I will be the first to break the silence," Harrar said after a while. "We never speak of that experience we all shared last night ever again."

"Agreed," the rest of them answered simultaneously.

"And from now on, I will not be smoking anymore marijuana whenever I have guests over," Nom Anor proclaimed.

The rest of them nodded.

A little while later, Danni downed the last of her caf, stood up, and said, "Well, I must be going now. I have some things to do as Magister of Zonama, so I hope none of you mind if I leave now." When no word of objection came from anyone, she turned and left the kitchen to ultimately depart Nom Anor's grashal.

After Danni left, Harrar looked at Jacen and said, "Are you still open to training me in the ways of the Force, _Jeedai_ Solo?"

Jacen hesitated, still looking away from Harrar, before nodding mutely.

"Then how about my grashal sometime tonight?" the former priest inquired.

Jacen cleared his throat, abruptly looking away from Harrar again. But he just as quickly looked back and nodded nervously. "Uh, yeah, yeah, that sounds about good. Oh-eight-hundred?"

"That fits my schedule," Harrar answered.

"Do I still have to come with you, Solo?" Nom Anor asked.

Jacen grimaced, looking away from both Yuuzhan Vong. "Please don't say come with me."

Nom Anor's brow lowered in annoyance. "What I meant to say was, do I still have to... shadow you, as it were, given that you still have to protect me from traditionalist Yuuzhan Vong now?"

"Yes, you still have to," Jacen answered, albeit in a reluctant tone. "Just no marijuana again, okay?"

Nom Anor nodded. "I have certainly learned my lesson from last night."

Harrar soon finished the last of his beverage, stood up, and said, "Until tonight, gentlemen." They nodded back, and he left,. leaving Jacen and Nom Anor, who just finished their cafs, sitting around the table with the awkward silence between them resuming.

"We are going to have to talk about what happened between the four of us last night eventually, are we not?" Nom Anor asked in a disappointed tone.

"Hey, what's there to say?" Jacen asked. "We lost our inhibitions from the marijuana, and we decided to do whatever the hell we wanted. We weren't really in control of what happened."

"Yes, but the fact that, as you say, we lost our inhibitions is very telling, considering that it is, in fact, what we wanted to do," Nom Anor pointed out. "So I wonder what that says about the four of us?"

"Are you trying to psychoanalyze this?" Jacen asked.

"Does it seem like anything else?" Nom Anor retorted.

Jacen sighed. "Well, I did want to have sex with Danni. And I was open to seeing what making love to a Yuuzhan Vong of either gender would be like."

"It is an interesting way to begin establishing a more legitimate peace between the Yuuzhan Vong and the rest of the galaxy," Nom Anor said wryly.

Jacen shook his head as he looked back at the former Prefect in askance. "Exactly why are you psychoanalyzing a marijuana-induced foursome?"

Nom Anor shrugged. "Well, like I said, we may have to broach this after all with the Magister and Harrar."

"I thought you were in agreement with us never to mention it again," Jacen pointed out.

"You know as well as I do that this discussion is going to happen with Quee and Harrar sooner or later," Nom Anor said. "So do not deny it, Jedi Solo."

Jacen put his head against his palms. "I can't wait 'til this week is over."

"I still have to _come_ with you on that journey, remember?" Nom Anor pointed out, deliberately emphasizing the word "come."

Jacen looked annoyed as he looked back at the Yuuzhan Vong. "Don't remind me," he said scornfully. Looking away, he said, "Well, at least it's not as embarrassing as when my mother kissed Uncle Luke."

Nom Anor's eye widened in surprise. "What?"

Jacen's eyes also widened, but in realization of his error. "Oh, never mind."

"No, no, tell me, please," Nom Anor said. "Why did she kiss him?"

Jacen groaned. "It was six years before Jaina and I were born, and before my mom and Uncle Luke knew they were related. They were still fighting in the Rebellion against the Empire at the time, and they were hiding out on Hoth as one of their bases. My future parents were bickering with each other for some reason or another, and to get back at my dad, my mom decided to kiss Uncle Luke before him. It's a story Dad shared only with my siblings and me as a sort of revenge on Mom for what she did to him then."

"So I suppose your mother and Uncle Luke took it pretty well after they realized that they were related?" Nom Anor inquired.

"I don't think they mentioned it ever again, even though Dad did," Jacen said.

Nom Anor smirked. "Of course. Oh, man, I wish I had that kind of information on your family back when I was still an Executor; because every time one of my plans were foiled by the Jedi, I could have had the knowledge that your mother kissed her brother and had a good laugh about it. Maybe I would have even shared it with my superiors; I am quite sure Tsavong Lah would have seen this as further evidence that you 'infidels' deserved to fall before the might of the Yuuzhan Vong when something like incest occurred even among the Jedi."

"Hey, Mom and Uncle Luke only kissed, they didn't go so far as to... well, you know..."

"Well, either way, it is still too funny," Nom Anor said with a smile.

"Feeling better about the fact that you had a four-way with Danni, Harrar, and I last night?" Jacen inquired.

Nom Anor's expression dropped into a frown. "Kriff you."


	8. Chapter 8

Several minutes after they finished their cafs, Jacen and Nom Anor left the grashal to head over to the latter's backyard. The former Prefect sat on a wooden rocking chair, and then he and Jacen, who still stood, looked out to the not-to-distant end of the backyard. There, displayed were several specimens of a vibrant green plant, all lined in symmetrical columns of five. Behind this field of plants was a tall green gate with a yellow wooden lock to keep out intruders.

"So how long do we have to wait for these gardeners of yours?" Jacen asked.

Nom Anor looked at his organic wrist chrono. "Only a few more minutes. Kunra and Gerret are very punctual."

Jacen nodded in understanding. "You know, I never knew that the Yuuzhan Vong had established the use of credits here."

Nom Anor shrugged. "Sekot believes that if we are to one day become part of mainstream galactic society, we must understand the use of capitalism and an economy. With my help and the help of several other Yuuzhan Vong here who acted as spies during our war against your galaxy, we are doing our honest best to ingrain the idea of economy here."

"Your honest best?" Jacen asked.

"Yes, yes, coming from me, it is very shocking to hear," Nom Anor said. "But for once, it is true. I, for one, have made quite a living as one of the major marijuana suppliers here in La'okio."

"And yet Yuuzhan Vong traditionalists still wanna kill you?" Jacen inquired.

"They are not buyers," Nom Anor answered. "You know, resistance to change for peace and all. Hey, I just noticed you did not wince when I said 'coming' earlier."

"I thought we'd put that off for later," Jacen pointed out sternly.

"Well, at least you are getting past it, the fact that we have to discuss it again with Danni and Harrar again notwithstanding," Nom Anor said.

"Wait, did you just refer to Danni by her first name?" Jacen asked. "Don't you just refer to her as 'the Magister' or "Magister Quee?'"

Nom Anor rolled his eye in annoyance. "Do not be so picky here. We shared her with Harrar, so I think we can use a first-name basis with her now."

Jacen sighed. "The end of this week just can't come fast enough," Jacen said. And then he winced outwardly at the verbal slip.

Not long after, the gate behind the marijuana stock opened up, and two male Extolled walked in. Simultaneously, Nom Anor stood up and went to meet with them, Jacen following along again, as one of the Extolled closed and locked the gate again.

"Kunra, Gerret," Nom Anor nodded to each of them respectively. He then turned to Jacen. "I would like you to meet _Jeedai_ Jacen Solo. _Jeedai_ Solo, this is Kunra, and this is Gerret."

The two Extolled looked upon Jacen in admiration, and the object of their longing stares figured that these two had to restrain themselves from paying obeisance to him for personally meeting one of the heroes who saved them from Shimrra's oppression.

"Hello," he nodded to the both of them at once, displaying a modest smile all the while. "It is very nice to meet the both of you." He then stuck his hand out for Kunra.

With hesitation, Kunra looked up between Jacen and his hand in fascination before abruptly shoving his own out to shake the Jedi's. He shook for exactly five seconds before Nom Anor had to call Kunra out by his name so that he could break up what could have been an awkward moment. Of course, that didn't change with Gerret when it was his turn to shake Jacen's hand.

"Now that the pleasantries are all past, let us get to work," Nom Anor said.

.

When work was all done for the day, and the number of credits they gained from selling their marijuana plants to Extolled and like-minded former elite Yuuzhan Vong were counted - exactly one thousand credits, enough to give Jacen, Nom Anor, Kunra, and Gerret two hundred and fifty credits each - the sun was now just a moving down the horizon. Only a few more hours, then night would come.

Nom Anor promptly paid Kunra and Gerret, as well as giving Jacen his fair share, and then the former Prefect said, "Have a good day, gentlemen."

"Um, before we do," Gerret said, "can we ask _Jeedai_ Solo a question, Nom Anor?"

The former Prefect sighed in annoyance. "Yes, you may, Gerret."

The two Extolled then looked at the Jedi. "Is it true that you had an orgy with Magister Quee, former Eminence Harrar, and our employer here last night?"

Jacen and Nom Anor's eyes shot up in surprise. "Where did you hear that?" the latter asked in a rushed tone.

"We did not hear about it, we simply saw Magister Quee and Harrar leave your grashal earlier today, Nom Anor," Kunra explained. "Rumors are spreading throughout La'okio that the four of you had sex."

"So is it true, after all?" Gerret asked.

"No," Nom Anor answered without hesitation.

"Yes," Jacen answered at the same time as Nom Anor did.

The latter Yuuzhan Vong looked at the human with eye widened.

Jacen shrugged. "What's wrong with getting this out in the open? And besides, weren't you the one who said we had to discuss it with _Danni_ and Harrar later on anyway?"

"Yes, but I did not mean that all of La'okio should know about it," Nom Anor said. "I thought it would be between the four of us." He then glared pointedly at Kunra and Gerret. "You two will go about and deny these rumors when you leave this garden; failing that, or even admitting that, yes, we did have sexual intercourse with Magister Quee and Harrar, you will lose your jobs on the spot. Is that understood?"

"Well, you can tell them that!" a guttural voice came from the other side of the closed gate. "But you cannot stop me!"

At once, Nom Anor moved past Kunra and Gerret to rush for the door. Upon opening it, however, he found no one there; only Yuuzhan Vong going about their day through La'okio.

"Oh, this is going to be painful," Nom Anor said.

"Was it as painful as when you, _Jeedai_ Solo, and Harrar all shoved your phallics in Magister Quee's-" Gerret tried to ask.

"How do you know that happened?" Nom Anor asked, whirling about to face the two Extolled.

Kunra and Gerret both shrugged. "We just guessed," Kunra answered.

Nom Anor sighed in defeat. "Kriff my bantha," he muttered to himself.


	9. Chapter 9

Below one side of a raised hill, a crowd of Yuuzhan Vong, Extolled and non-Extolled alike, gathered in a group as Maal Lah called out to all of them.

"How can we allow Danni Quee to continue acting as our Magister and how can we allow Harrar to continue representing the Yuuzhan Vong, when the mere rumor of debauchery between them, Jacen Solo, and Nom Anor, which was confirmed to be true, by the way, is facilitated throughout La'okio? After all, do we really want those who would sexually conduct themselves under the influence of marijuana one of the most disgusting acts imaginable?"

"No!" the collective reply came. It was, however, mostly from the former elites. Those among the Extolled, though, were merely silent.

"Exactly!" Lah called out. "Therefore, we must-"

"You must _what_, Maal Lah?" a powerful female voice said from the back of the Yuuzhan Vong crowd.

Lah's attention shifted in that direction, as well as the collective attention of the entire crowd. There, the source of the voice who interrupted one of Tsavong Lah's relatives stood poised and carried herself as the wealth of power that she represented on Zonama.

"Would you dare instigate a rebellion against my domain simply because of the sexual conduct that I have committed, which really has no affects on anyone but myself and those who participated?" Danni Quee asked, projecting her voice with the Force. "No," she continued, cutting Lah off from replying. "You were simply looking for an excuse to bait an uprising, one that the likes of Nas Choka are smart enough to never mastermind. And so you use the antiquated pretense of values in terms of self-conduct when, keep in mind, in your previous society, you practiced self-mutilation, willing dismemberment, and downright murder and enslavement of other beings."

"How dare you-" Lah began.

"How dare I?" Danni responded. "How dare _you_? The act of debauchery was never one to be considered taboo in your previous culture anyway; only mere fools and traditionalists, which is redundant, given how it's so synonymous with fools, would ever think you had a decent platform to mount war against Zonama Sekot.

"This display of resistance against the Yuuzhan Vong's way of life is unacceptable, and will be met with strict punishment to all who support you, Lah, and you will share that punishment."

"And what can you do, Quee?" Lah called. "I have an army with me!"

"Do you now?" Danni retorted. She then shifted her gaze, generally, to the crowd gathered. "Do any of you have the gall to follow Maal Lah on a fruitless and self-destructive endeavor against the living world that has welcomed you as your home? If so, then it's no wonder why the lot of you aren't regaining the Force."

"As if all of us wanted to, witch!" Lah called. "I and all my relatives under the great domain of Lah would rather die before seceding to you!"

"Then go ahead," Danni said simply. "Kill yourself."

Lah looked back at Danni in askance. "What?"

"I won't stop you," Danni elaborated. "And I highly doubt anyone else here would try to. If you want to die before continuing to live here as you've done for the past decade and a half or so, then you're free to commit ritualistic suicide, if you wish. But that will be the only practice from your previous society that I will allow you to commit." Again, her gaze shifted back to the crowd. "The same goes for all of you. Again, do any of you really want to do this?"

Lah made his snort of derision as loud as he could make it so that everyone could hear him. "Oh, sure, you would allow us to practice our sacred rituals when it is convenient to you, but not when it impedes your fruitless attempts to 'save us,' as you so put it. How hypocritical of you."

"You think the attempts shepherded by Sekot and I are fruitless, Lah?" Danni asked. "If that's the case, why did you lose the war?"

"What does our loss from the Great War have to do with-"

"It has everything to do with your salvation, Lah," Danni interrupted. "Your defeat under Shimrra's reign was testament to the failure of your old order, and the futility of following it any further."

"If it were not for Nas Choka's cowardly surrender-"

"You have no right to call _me_ a coward, Lah!"

All attention then shifted to a particular individual standing the crowd, the Yuuzhan Vong's final warmaster, Nas Choka. The former leader of the species's military glared angrily at the relative of his predecessor.

"There was no point in fighting any further. In fact, there was no point to fighting the denizens of this galaxy at all! As I told you before, the gods were false, an empty promise to begin with; I did our people a favor in surrendering when I thought that the gods simply abandoned us when Shimrra died. You, on the other hand, Maal Lah, do nothing for our kind by continuing to vouch for the ramblings of a madman and his predecessors."

"You still believe the empty promises of Sekot and the platitudes espoused by that treacherous Harrar that Yun'o never were?" Lah asked in shock. "I thought time would be kind to you, Choka; I thought you would have seen the way. I was wrong, it seems." He then shifted his attention out to the rest of the crowd. "Do any of you prove me wrong in this venture?"

Where last time, the crowd's cheers were ecstatic from numbers, this time, it was more muted, as even many of the non-Extolled were silent. Very few still showed support for what Lah was espousing.

In response, Lah looked angrily at Danni, who was openly smirking. "Your support is too few now, Lah," she said. "Even many who truly want the previous order back see the folly of looking back to the past. Why don't you?"

Lah growled. "If that's the case..." He deliberately trailed off before taking out a hand-carved knife from his pouch and promptly slit his throat with it. The crowd was silent as the relative of Tsavong Lah dropped to the ground and died.

Not long after, just as some former warriors were carrying Lah's body to cremate it, Jacen, Nom Anor, and Harrar joined Danni just as the Yuuzhan Vong crowd was disembarking to return to their daily routines.

"Well, that went well," Nom Anor remarked wryly.

"I wonder what it is with Domain Lah," Jacen said. "You really have to think why the entire domain didn't just outright commit suicide after Choka called the end of the war."

Harrar shrugged. "People can be surprising; they can seek hope even where it most displeases them... and just as well disregard it when they see there is no going back to what once was."

"Speaking of what once was," Nom Anor said, "do any of you think we should still be around each other now?"

"There's no letting go of that foursome, huh?" Danni asked.

"We'll discuss it sometime, but now isn't right," Jacen said.

"I agree," Danni said.

"Me, too," Harrar said.

"I concur," Nom Anor concluded.

Then they awkwardly disembarked from each other, Jacen and Nom Anor returning to their grashal, and Danni and Harrar heading their own separate ways.


	10. Chapter 10

The rest of the week of Zonama was relatively uneventful; Jacen continued to help Nom Anor with his marijuana-selling business, teaching Harrar how to further his mastery of the Force, and he managed to consummate more with Danni - and by the end of the week, any awkwardness between the four of them regarding the drug-induced orgy was gone.

And that was what made things all the more sad between them when it came time for Jacen and Nom Anor to finally go, now with the ship that Sekot had built for them was complete.

Jacen and Nom Anor now stood regarding the green-painted, nimble Sekotan fighter seated for two, and at their backs, practically the entire village, including Danni and Harrar, were there to see them off.

The two who were about to departure turned and gave one last look to each of the others in the crowd, especially the two people with whom they had sexual intercourse with. No more words were exchanged; they had all said their goodbyes, and Nom Anor made sure that Kunra and Gerret would take care of his business while he was gone. So, from this point on, Jacen and Nom Anor - who Jacen took to calling Nommy, given their time together now - turned back around and headed for the ship ahead.

A few minutes later, the Sekotan fighter lifted off and blasted for the skies.

.

"I can't believe you didn't ask Sekot to give us something a bit more liveable," Nommy whined as he tried to stretch in his half of the starfighter's cockpit. "I could very well sue you if I get any cramps, you know." Two hours into hyperspace, and already, Jacen and Nommy were getting on each other's nerves.

"Yeah, and who you gonna take it to?" Jacen asked. "The Galactic Alliance would sooner execute your sorry ass for leaving Zonama, and Force knows what they have in store for me, considering what I did before I died. Besides, don't think you're the only one who feels like he's gonna cramp up soon." As if to show that, he tried to stretch, too.

Nommy then looked at Jacen. "It'll certainly serve you right for your stupidity."

"What, you mean me selecting this ship?" Jacen asked.

"No, you getting punished for screwing over the Galactic Alliance as Darth Caedus," Nommy said. "It'd certainly serve you right."

"Oh, yeah, like you were any better during your people's war against the galaxy," Jacen countered. "And in case you forgot, I already got punished when my own sister killed me while I was trying to save my ex-lover and daughter."

"And yet the galaxy would still want us both dead," Nommy pointed out soberly.

Jacen sighed as he looked back toward the white-streaked starlines of hyperspace. "Yeah. Most people kinda suck like that. Not giving others second chances, I mean, as if they were any different deep down."

Nommy's expression softened into one directed more toward sympathy... at least for him. "That's my philosophy exactly. And yet, the Jedi like to think that they're so morally superior to others when most, if not all of them, haven't grown up in harsh and strict environments like I did."

Jacen smirked. "You imagine yourself being a better person had you not been a Yuuzhan Vong?"

"If I weren't a Yuuzhan Vong, obviously, I wouldn't be me, simple enough as that," Nommy said as he also looked back through the viewport for hyperspace. "Or maybe if I were a Yuuzhan Vong who were raised by human parents or any species like that, maybe I would be a better person after all." He shrugged. "Unlikely, but not impossible."

Jacen couldn't help but snort. "Even if you were raised in a good home, and not given too many luxuries like the average wealthy being, something tells me that you'd still be a coward who'd sacrifice anyone for your own benefit."

"I don't suppose the Force is giving you clairvoyance over me?" Nommy remarked dryly.

"No, I just know you based on my experiences with you from the war against your people," Jacen said.

Nommy snorted. "You know, I didn't always want to be in Onimi's empire even before the Battle of Ebaq Nine. In fact, when you and Vergere escaped Coruscant around the time Ganner Rhysode died, I actually wanted to come with you back to the New Republic and see if I would be given asylum, even if I had to go through strict security measures, what with that whole Elan thing and all. But thanks to Vergere using the Force to manipulate some of the vines that my people planted there, I was quite literally tied up from coming with you."

"And I'm supposed to feel sorry for you that that happened?" Jacen asked derisively.

"If you want to redeem yourself as a Jedi, I think that is a pretty good idea," Nommy countered.

Jacen sighed. "I figured this path of redemption would be difficult, but I didn't think I actually had to forgive you for the atrocities you caused in that war."

"Imagine what those who once loved you must think, never mind those who only knew you as Darth Caedus," Nommy said.

Jacen looked away from the Yuuzhan Vong and back to the controls of the Sekotan fighter. His head dropped in annoyance as he muttered, "Another hour..."

"Can I ask what system we are dropping out into?" Nommy asked, his sober tone still in place.

"Borleias," Jacen answered, not looking at his "friend."

"Must I point out why that is not a good idea?" Nommy retorted.

Jacen shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, it's a suitably fortified Galactic Alliance base. But, hey, we gotta make our reentry to this galaxy anyway sooner or later."

"I prefer later, but you are the boss," Nom Anor shrugged nonchalantly, belaying the obvious fear he felt over knocking right on the Alliance's doorstep.


	11. Chapter 11

Immediately after Jacen and Nommy's Sekotan fighter dropped out of hyperspace in the Borleias system, they were hailed, and a gruff male Bothan voice with a militant tone said from the other end, "Unidentified vessel, this is the Borleias Defense Force of the Galactic Alliance. Identify yourself and state your intentions immediately, or you will be arrested for trespassing on territory of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances." The threat was backed up by the presence of two Star Destroyers in orbit around Borleias.

Jacen looked at Nommy evenly, who looked back at him with a worried expression, before the human looked back the fighter's console and said, "Well, here goes nothing," just as he cracked his fingers. He then pressed the reply button on the comm system and said, "Borleias Defense Force, this is the resurrected Jacen Solo with a member of the Yuuzhan Vong, Nom Anor, looking for asylum. Please, do not fire on us, we mean you no harm this time."

A long silence from the other end of the line ensued, after which the Bothan asked, "Is this a joke? Because if it is, you'll face a harsh sentence for wasting the time of the Galactic Alliance military with your pranks, whoever you really are."

"I can assure you, sir, that this is, in fact, not at all a joke," Jacen said as diplomatically as he could. "The tale of my resurrection is something of a long story, so I won't get into it here. What I do ask, however, as I said, is asylum in the Galactic Alliance."

"If what you're saying is true, 'Jacen Solo,'" the Bothan replied in a mocking way, "then I hope you and your Yuuzhan Vong won't mind if we tractor you aboard one of our Star Destroyers."

"By all means, please do so," Jacen replied nonchalantly.

The line was then cut off from the other end, and the next thing Jacen and Nommy knew, their ship was being pulled by an invisible force - a tractor beam - toward one of the Destroyers, as promised.

"Your resurrection isn't much of a long story, you know," Nommy said in a tone that betrayed his fear of ending up in Alliance capture.

"It's still too ridiculous to tell over a comm line," Jacen replied. "And relax, will you?"

"I'll relax when I know I won't be executed for leaving Zonama, never mind all the horrors I've committed during my people's war against your kind, Solo," Nommy snapped back. "But, thanks to you, at least I'll never have to worry about your aunt hunting me down for nearly killing her with coomb spores before that war even began."

Jacen sighed. "Thanks for bringing that up," he said sarcastically. "Keep in mind, though, even if my uncle restrains himself from killing you, if not me, you'll have to deal with their son now, who also almost died in Mara's womb because of your coomb spores." His tone was more snooty now, if only to spite his new friend.

"Oh, I can't wait for _that_ meeting," Nommy said.

Not much time later, the Sekotan fighter finally docked inside the Star Destroyer that pulled it in, and Jacen cycled down the engines before opening up the canopy. As expected, a little more than two dozen blaster rifles were aimed at them from below at the hangar bay's floor, courtesy of the Alliance soldiers there. They now looked more prone to firing off lethal bolts for Jacen and Nommy when they saw that they were, indeed, the real deal.

From the back of the crowd of soldiers leveling their weapons up at Jacen and Nommy, Admiral Gavin Darklighter, aiming his own holdout blaster at Jacen specifically, called out, "Jacen Solo, you and your Yuuzhan Vong are both under arrest for your crimes against the galaxy. Slowly, the both of you, step out of the cockpit, and don't make any sudden movements, because even if you do decide to kill us all, Solo, you won't make it out in the long-run."

"I get it, Admiral Darklighter," Jacen said as two ladders were wheeled over to both sides of the Sekotan fighter, one for Jacen and the other for Nommy. As the two slowly stepped out of the cockpit and just as carefully climbed down their respective ladders, ever mindful of the blasters still leveled up at them, Jacen continued, "I've no interest in fighting the Jedi anymore anyway."

"Very wise of you for once, Solo," Darklighter replied. "Still won't get you back in good graces with the Order, or your family, for that matter."

By then, Jacen and Nommy had reached the hangar floor and were immediately stuncuffed from behind. "I don't expect to, Admiral," Jacen said soberly as his lightsaber was taken from his belt by the soldier who cuffed him.

"Take 'em to the brig," Darklighter ordered the soldiers who apprehended the prisoners.

.

A few minutes after Jacen and Nommy were placed in their shared cell aboard Darklighter's Star Destroyer, the Yuuzhan Vong was near-forcefully taken from his temporary prison for questioning by the admiral. From there, Jacen waited patiently, literally twiddling his thumbs on the cot that he and Nommy sat down on, for his friend to return.

A quarter of an hour later, as Jacen judged using his abilities through the Force, Nommy returned against his volition and sat down next to his friend again.

"Asked you why you left Zonama?" Jacen asked.

"Yep," Nommy replied. "And I cooperated with them a hundred percent, as you'd no doubt want, so it wasn't much of an interrogation so much as a mildly intense interview. I'd say I'm pretty lucky that Admiral Darklighter didn't torture me anyway just for what my people did to this galaxy so many years ago."

Jacen nodded. "Well, this is just the military, which is pretty impersonal, so it's not exactly the worst hurdle we have to get through here."

"Ah, yes, the Jedi and your family," Nommy said with an ironic grin. "That's going to be a happy reunion."


	12. Chapter 12

A few minutes after Nommy was returned to his shared cell with Jacen, the door to their prison was opened again and the female Bothan soldier there said, "Solo, the admiral wants to see you now."

"I hope the Force will really be with you on this one, man," Nommy said as Jacen stood up from the cot.

Without looking back down on him, Jacen patted Nommy's shoulder and casually but briskly walked toward the guard, who slapped a pair of stuncuffs on him, issued him out of the cell, gave a growl at Nommy, and finally closed and locked the door behind her.

One walk through the halls of the Star Destroyer later, during which Jacen received threatening stares and snarls from the soldiers that he and his Bothan captor had passed, he was brought into the dimly-lit interrogation room. And even though it was completely unnecessary, he was still shoved into his seat by the Bothan, who just as well turned away and walked out of the room, leaving Jacen alone with Gavin Darklighter.

"Nom Anor, of all people, Solo?" Darklighter asked with obvious incredulity. "Of all the Yuuzhan Vong you decide to bring on your journey from Zonama Sekot, and you bring one of the greatest bastards from the war with his species? You know what, never mind, given that it's you, it makes sense that you'd decide to bring him along. Would've been a close second if Shimrra Jamaane were still alive, huh?"

"If you really did interrogate Nom Anor, or, as he put it, interviewed him with mild intensity, Admiral, you'd know that's not the case," Jacen said.

"Oh, I did 'interview him with mild intensity,' Solo, and yes, I know what he told me," Darklighter countered. "He told me that you were resurrected by Magister Danni Quee of Zonama Sekot so you could return to the greater galaxy to fight something called... Ahegoth?"

"Abeloth, sir," Jacen said.

Darklighter's already-intense gaze at Jacen somehow turned malignant. "Yes, of course, Abeloth, it was," he said in a restrained tone. "And you brought Nom Anor along because... why?"

Jacen suppressed the urge to sigh in annoyance; clearly, the admiral was testing him to confirm his story with the one he no doubt got from Nommy. "Sekot chose him as a representative of the Yuuzhan Vong; if I could redeem him of his actions, and somehow endow him with the Force, then I could show that the Yuuzhan Vong overall were worthy of joining the galactic community."

Darklighter's mouth firmed in obvious hatred. "You're good, Solo. You and Nom Anor really planned this out to keep your story straight, huh?"

"I understand your hesitation to believe Nom Anor and myself, Admiral," Jacen replied evenly. "The both of us have pretty bad records in terms of trust to everyone else around us, I get that. Still, though, even if you doubt the intentions of myself and my Yuuzhan Vong companion, even you have to admit that me coming back from the dead because the Force willed it through Sekot and Magister Quee is something you may want to take into consideration in your judgment."

"I'd be a fool if I didn't, Solo," Darklighter said. "In fact, before I even brought Nom Anor in for questioning, I called in your uncle to let him know what was going on, and suggested that he send some Jedi over to Zonama Sekot to confirm what you and Nom Anor just told me."

"I imagine my uncle wasn't very happy to hear I was back from the dead, and brought along the man who almost killed his wife and son simultaneously during the Yuuzhan Vong War," Jacen remarked.

"On the surface, he sounded calm," Darklighter nodded, his tone still strict and professional. "But when you've been around Luke Skywalker as much as I have, you pick up the subtleties of his anger through his well-maintained serenity."

Jacen tilted his head in agreement. "May I ask, though, when I can expect the arrival of my family, at least?"

Darklighter looked at Jacen as if he were an insect on his living room carpet. "What makes you think they're coming over, Solo?"

"What would make me think they're not coming over?" Jacen retorted.

The admiral snorted derisively. "Don't get smart with me, Solo. You're in absolutely no position to retort like that to a superior officer in the Galactic Alliance Defense Force."

"Fair enough," Jacen said with raised eyebrows. "So I take it that my family won't be coming then?"

"Oh, no, they're coming alright," Darklighter said. "I just wanted you to know that you have no power here like you had when you took this government from Cal Omas."

"I had help from Cha Niathal, you know," Jacen said.

"What did I just say about you getting smart with me?"

"That I'm in absolutely no position to do so."

"You're learning, at least. Admittedly, you could've been a damn good Jedi if you listened to your elders like that. Anyway, just so you know, regardless of whatever your family says about you after they see you again - which I wouldn't want to be in the room when that happens - you and Nom Anor will be put on trial for your crimes, and there'll be a more thorough investigation as to whether or not you're really who you say you are. Resurrection is a hard thing for a judge and jury to believe, you know."

"What do you think people would believe I am then, Admiral?" Jacen asked.

"While I'm under no obligation to tell you, I'll humor you, since we really have nothing to lose from this," Darklighter said. "Some of my soldiers are saying that you're a fake. More outrageous claims include you being a clone courtesy of the Yuuzhan Vong in preparation of a new invasion. I could only imagine what the civilian public will think of this, even if the Force-sensitives among your family confirm you are who you say you are, Solo."

"And what happens if the Force-sensitives in my family do say I am who I am?" Jacen inquired.

"Naturally, I can't wait to see what happens after that." In spite of himself, Darklighter held a brief yet imperceptive smile.


	13. Chapter 13

"I really wish I had some marijuana with me right now," Nommy said as soon as Jacen returned from his interrogation by Admiral Darklighter and sat down next to him. "I swear, I'd risk having sex with you again from induced bliss if it meant it could take my mind off what we'll be facing-"

"Shut up, Nommy," Jacen interrupted with annoyance. "Besides, it would only take your mind off whatever sentences we may be facing for only a little while, and you'll only regret the experience of screwing me anyway. And that's not taking into account the fact that the military would have confiscated your weed after we arrived."

"I should've never agreed to come with you in the first place," Nommy growled. "At least back on Zonama, I had a better chance at survival from those assassination attempts than I do now."

"Did you imagine a better welcome wagon back into the greater galaxy than this?" Jacen countered sardonically.

Nommy then leaned back against the wall behind him and sighed, looking away from his friend. "How long do you think it'll be before your family shows up?"

"Assuming they were on Coruscant when Darklighter called them," Jacen said, "I imagine it'll be a few minutes before they drop out of hyperspace and I sense their presences just as they'll sense mine."

Nommy raised an eyebrow. "I'm curious, when you were resurrected, wouldn't your family have sensed your return? I'm no expert on the Force, but I'd imagine you coming back from the dead would be a pretty big thing for the Force-sensitives among your former friends and family to not notice."

Jacen shrugged. "They had a little over a week to at least send someone into the Unknown Regions to see if it really was me. That, and Darklighter told me that when he informed my uncle about the two of us being here, he dispatched some Jedi over to Zonama, so I bet they didn't sense my comeback at all."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Good question," Jacen acknowledged. "I hope we get the chance to find out."

"Hey, if you get executed for your crimes anyway, you can still probably come back from the dead," Nommy pointed out. "Considering I still don't have the Force, and I doubt I'll ever get it even with this whole journey, I don't get to have the luxury of knowing I can be resurrected."

Jacen gave his friend a wry glance. "Look, I know you only came along just to get away from those assassination attempts, but could you please try to have some faith in me, man? It's not like I'm not in the hotspot either, and I doubt we'd have anymore time to waste for Danni to bring me back to life again."

"Oh, yes, Abeloth, I forgot," Nommy said with a downbeat tone. "You better hope your family believes you on this, because even if they accept that it's really you, they'll find the idea of a tentacled Force monster quite contrived, if you ask me. And, mind you, this is coming from a guy who administered propaganda about war gods back when my people served under Shim... Onimi and way back when."

"I just hope they'll listen, never mind buy the idea about Abeloth," Jacen said. "Even Uncle Luke would probably only barely restrain himself from responding to whatever red he'll be seeing once he sees me, never mind you."

"You know what we should've done? We should've brought the Magister along."

Jacen rolled his eyes. "Even if she wanted to, she can't because of her duties on Zonama. And I get where you're going with this, that she would've validated our claims to Darklighter and my family."

"You don't think she could have?"

"I'm not saying that, I'm just pointing out the fact that she couldn't anyway."

"In either case, she still would've been a better pick than even a Yuuzhan Vong that the Jedi trust, like Harrar," Nommy said before he sighed and looked down at his feet. He then looked back up at Jacen. "I think it's safe to say that we're screwed, and the galaxy will go with us because of Abeloth."

"I'll take your claims about the fate of the galaxy seriously when you're the Force, or even get an insight from the Force itself," Jacen said. "And if that happens, I'll at least know that I succeeded in getting your ungrateful ass as part of the Force, if nothing else."

Nommy sneered but said nothing. He just sat back against the wall behind him again.

The silence that followed lasted a few awkward moments before the door to their cell opened thanks to the same Bothan soldier who sent Jacen to his interrogation. "Your family's here, Solo, so you and that Vong get your asses up and follow me."

Both prisoners stood up and carefully waked over to their captor, who briskly placed stuncuffs on them and shut the door behind them before shoving them down the brig corridor for the turbolift up ahead.

Once they were in the turbolift, and it rocketed for the level it was heading up for, Nommy leaned in close to Jacen and asked in a whispered tone, "You said you'd sense if your family arrived, right?"

"You, Vong, shut up," the soldier said harshly.

Nommy ignored her as Jacen gave him a shrug accompanied with a questioning face; considering that he didn't want to aggravate the already-aggressive Bothan's attention by saying anything, it was his form of nonverbal communication to Nommy in telling him that he was as curious as he in not knowing why he didn't sense his family's arrival in the Borleias system at least.


	14. Chapter 14

Neither Jacen nor Nommy ever figured that when they'd be brought to the hangar bay of Gavin Darklighter's Star Destroyer, which turned out to be their destination, they would not only be confronted by the former friends and family of Jacen, but also hundreds of HoloNet reporters and several highly-placed government and military officials, Darklighter among them.

The Bothan soldier behind the duo that most of everyone in the galaxy hated gave the both of them a harsh shove out of the turbolift with the body of the standard-issue blaster rifle in her hands. From there, as the doors behind them closed, the events around them seemed to slow down in Jacen's perception of reality during his walk with Nommy and their legal captor toward the center of the crowd; it was as if he took some of Nommy's marijuana, as the Yuuzhan Vong had complained about wanting back in his cell, but at the back of his mind, he knew that it was the Force itself telling him that this was one of the most crucial events in his resurrection: how the public, especially those among his former friends and family, would react to his return, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Nommy's own return as well.

Jacen and Nommy were halfway to the crowd, most of whom were shouting questions at the controversial duo, when Jacen really took notice of those he knew. He first saw Nek Bwua'tu, the only other person other than Tahiri Veila who remained loyal to him before Jaina struck him down, staring back at Jacen impassively. Granted, it was only because Bwua'tu was following his vow of _kre'vi_, which Jacen remembered was that he wouldn't betray the Galactic Alliance, no matter who it was held by, and Jacen only sensed the expected curiosity of someone finding someone else they knew to be dead alive again.

Tahiri herself appeared to be absent, and even when Jacen found that he could now sense the beings around him, especially the Force-sensitives from those he knew, he found that she was entirely absent from the proceedings. He hoped that she didn't die around the time he did, or anytime after that, because he wasn't sure if he could handle anymore guilt placed upon his shoulders.

Next was Cha Niathal, now dressed in Mon Calamari civilian clothing instead of her admiral's uniform. Jacen guessed that she had retired; he couldn't really blame her, what with the fact that she aided a ruthless tyrant like Darth Caedus in his rise to power, he imagined she'd want nothing more to do with the Galactic Alliance government directly after that. Niathal's relatively meager presence in the Force was easy to read - but only when Jacen locked his senses upon her, given the impressive presences he'd yet to lay eyes on in this new life - and her unreadable expression (unreadable to humans like Jacen, at least) belayed the animosity that the former admiral held against him for all he did in the Second Galactic Civil War.

Most of the same could be said for the others Jacen began glancing at in his slowed-down view of time, though their weight in the Force was much greater in their glares upon him.

They were all here, as expected. His fellow survivors from Myrkr; Tekli, Tesar, Zekk, and Lowie, glaring at him hatefully. His former lover Tenel Ka, glaring at him hatefully. All the members of the Jedi Council glaring at him hatefully, even if it went against their creed of never giving in to hate. His own parents, Han and Leia, and their granddaughter - Jacen and Tenel Ka's daughter Allana, the very person Jacen wanted to save in the first place - all glaring hatefully upon him. His sister, Jaina, his own killer, glaring at him hatefully. His teenaged cousin, Ben, glaring especially hatefully at him, and Jacen could never forget why that was. And that very same hatred from Ben was conveyed upon his father, Grand Master Luke Skywalker of the New Jedi Order, yet with more of that self-righteous air he harbored from the Dark Nest Crisis onward...

It was that last thought that broke Jacen out of his slowed view of time as he and Nommy were guided the rest of the way to the front of the crowd in normal time.

_Why did I think that?_ Jacen wondered. _Oh, c'mon, Force, don't make me turn back to Caedus, I can't afford that right now, and neither can the rest of the galaxy_. It didn't even cross his mind that any of the Force-sensitives glaring their consistent hatred of him would sense his strange thoughts, and upon a quick second viewing of all of them, he didn't see or sense any alarm from them; just that everlasting shunning at his very presence.

Once they were brought to a stop, Jacen laid his eyes at the very figure before him, who took precedent even to his own powerful uncle: Natasi Daala, dressed in a white Grand Admiral's uniform as the holos always depicted her. Jacen was about to give Daala a questioning look before she, with her one-eyed stern expression placed upon him, silenced all of the loud media representatives around them with, "Jacen Solo. As Chief of State of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, I ask not how, when, or where you've returned from, but why. Why have you returned?"

Instead of answering, Jacen could only raise his eyebrows in consternation. "Wait, wait, wait," he said as he raised his stuncuffed hands in a nonthreatening way. He then looked out among the crowd. "Everyone here who thinks I'm a monster for what I did thought it was a good idea to elect..." he waved his hands at Daala "...Admiral Daala as my successor? Are you people friggin' kidding me?!"


	15. Chapter 15

If it weren't for the stuncuffs placed on his wrists, Nommy would have slapped his head in worry over what Jacen just said with one hand. As it was, he placed both hands to his forehead and muttered, "Oh, no."

"Excuse me, Mister Solo," Daala said with indignation in her tone, "but we are not here to talk about my place as the Galactic Alliance's Chief of State. We are here to talk about why you have returned to the galaxy, regardless of how you could have possibly come back from the dead."

Jacen shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, I just can't get over this." He then looked away from Daala and out at everyone else in the crowd. "Who, in this hangar bay, thought it was a good idea to elect this woman as the Chief of State of your government? I'm serious, raise your hand."

"Why should we do anything for you?" Daala asked.

"I just wanna know who actually thought it was a good idea to elect you," Jacen said before turning his eyes away from Daala. "Well, c'mon, don't be shy."

"Jacen, I don't think this is a good idea..." Nommy tried to tell him.

"Not now, Nommy," Jacen interrupted.

After some hesitation, a surprisingly large number in the crowd raised their hands and other appendages up in response. Jacen's eyes widened in response, and his mouth dropped when he actually saw some of his own former friends and family raise their hands, albeit with more reluctance. Among them happened to be Uncle Luke, Leia, Zekk, Tesar, Kenth Hamner, Octa Ramis, Bwua'tu, and even Niathal.

"Okay, okay, first off," Jacen said, raising a finger from one of his cuffed hands to point at Niathal, "Cha, what made you think it was a good idea to elect the Imperial admiral that nearly destroyed your homeworld a few decades ago?"

"That's enough, Solo," Daala cut off. "Will you please answer my question or risk facing a severe court martial for your actions?"

"Well, at least you were nice enough to say please," Jacen said flippantly. "If you must know, Chief Daala, I've been brought back from the dead not only to help redeem the Yuuzhan Vong for their actions against the galaxy, but I'm also here to save the galaxy itself from an evil Force entity known as Abeloth."

The silence that followed, accompanied by the disbelieving and unamused stares at Jacen, spoke volumes over just how many people believed in his story.

Nommy dropped his head in defeat. "This was a completely bad idea," he muttered.

"Master Skywalker," Daala spoke out without turning away from Jacen, "as a formality, is your nephew telling the truth?"

"He is," Luke responded in an even tone, belaying the disbelieving stare he was still giving Jacen.

In response, everyone who wasn't a Force-sensitive, including Han Solo, in the hangar bay looked at the Grand Master of the Jedi Order in surprise, some gasps more clearly indicating that idea.

"Are you sure?" Daala asked.

"If it weren't for the other Jedi around me, I wouldn't be," Luke said. "My nephew managed to successfully fool me before with his lies in the months leading up to his death, concealing his deceit and treachery through the Force surprisingly well. But with the help of all the Masters, Knights, and apprentices with me, we had accumulated our powers to see if he is really telling the truth and not masking anymore lies."

Daala's lips firmed in grudging respect. "Then tell me, Master Skywalker, what should be done with your nephew and Nom Anor."

"I'd suggest, Chief Daala, that you hand these two over into the custody of the Jedi Order before they are judged in a fair trial for their crimes," Luke said.

"Thank you for the suggestion, Master Skywalker," Daala said. "But as it is, we will take these two into a fair trial."

"We're screwed," Nommy said aloud to Jacen, which earned him a slight smack at the back of his head from the butt of their Bothan captor's blaster rifle.

"Put them in the brig of my personal shuttle," Daala said to two human male soldiers, who relieved their Bothan colleague of her charges as they grabbed their shoulders and began dragging them over to a nearby shuttle.

All the while, the media representatives resumed their loud calls toward Jacen and even Nommy, with very few trying to get Daala's attention for her decision. Meanwhile, as he and Nommy were dragged toward the Chief of State's shuttle, Jacen managed to turn his head back around enough to call out, "Uncle Luke, you have to help me!"

All Jacen saw for those precious few seconds from his uncle was that impassive yet somehow angered expression that still carried so much resentment for what his nephew did to him in the final years of his first life. After that, the soldier dragging him away used his free hand to turn Jacen's head back around as they made the rest of the way for Daala's shuttle.

.

"You certainly have a way with people," Nommy said in the cramped cell he and Jacen were placed in for their trip to Coruscant. "I can see you won Daala over by questioning how she got elected."

"Shut up, Nommy, just shut up," Jacen said in a guttural moan.

"Oh, no, I am not going to shut up, you got us into this when I told you this was a bad idea, you went along with it anyway, dragging my reasonably cautious ass along, and now here we are, heading back for Coruscant, where I doubt either of us will get a fair trial, get executed immediately, and no one will care even if they regret it once a tentacled entity beyond anyone's comprehension rips this galaxy to shreds," Nommy ranted. "So I have every right to complain from here to Coruscant!"

"And how will this change our situation?" Jacen asked.

Nommy was silent for a while, glaring resentfully at Jacen, before saying, "I kriffing hate you."


	16. Chapter 16

After Daala's shuttle and her aiding fleet disappeared into hyperspace back for Coruscant, the Jedi StealthX fleet, led by the _Jade Shadow_ and the _Millennium Falcon_, followed suit.

In the resultant calm of hyperspace, Luke Skywalker, in the pilot seat of his late wife's vessel, decided to take the time to turn to his son, Ben, who was absently looking out in the stretched starfield through the forward viewport. Of course, Luke sensed that his blank expression was a mere facade to hide his thoughts.

"You were the one who told Daala about Jacen's return, weren't you, Ben?" Luke asked.

Ben looked at his father, but his expression was straight, not betraying anything outwardly. But even with his specific training the Force, mainly in hiding himself in it - something that Luke, deep down, despised Jacen teaching to his son - the Grand Master of the Jedi Order could sense a crack in his offspring's mental barriers that were all that he needed to confirm his suspicions.

"Why do you think that, Dad?" Ben asked with a tone that made him sound genuinely curious; he was a good liar, Luke had to admit. Another trait passed down by Jacen, he thought angrily.

"I don't like it when you lie to me, son," Luke said, his voice calming yet firm. "What Admiral Darklighter told me was for myself and the rest of the Jedi Order, including yourself, to know. We made sure there wouldn't be any leaks to the news about this; we were supposed to confront Jacen ourselves and see if what he told the admiral about his return was true. You were out of line when you told the Chief of State about this."

"So what if I was?" Ben asked defiantly. "Everyone should know about Jacen's return, not just the Jedi. And, really, why do you care, Dad? Even if Jacen is right about this new threat to the galaxy, that still doesn't excuse him for all that he's done to us! What he did to Mom!" Tears threatened to pour from his eyes.

"Ben, calm down," Luke ordered, his own patience beginning to slip.

"No, I won't calm down!" Ben shouted as he stood up from his seat. "I won't let Jacen... I won't let _Caedus_ walk for all the lives that were lost because of him! It's shameful to think that you would be so willing to give him another chance after all the times he failed you, never mind burning Kashyyyk, killing Mom, or anything else like that!"

"But that's not your decision to make," Luke said, regaining the composure he felt he was about to lose. "You don't have the authority to make the choice you made. I do, Ben, and I bear that burden alone until the end of my life. And even though you're my son, I can't just let you disobey me and the rest of the Order and not reprimand you for it."

"But, Dad..."

"No buts, Ben. I am very much aware that this is the same Jacen who killed your mother, my wife, tricked you into killing Cal Omas, set Kashyyyk ablaze, kidnapped his own daughter, took over the Imperial Remnant, and generally ruled over the Galactic Alliance as a tyrant to rival Palpatine. And I will never forgive him for any of that, as I'm sure you won't either, and I don't expect you to. I doubt anyone else in the Jedi Order would. But we have to look past all of the emotional stakes here and look at this objectively, as we did when we turned against Jacen, and see that the Force brought him back for a reason here."

Ben growled, still not sitting down. "Why him? Why didn't the Force bring back Mom? Or even cousin Anakin? Or anyone else but him?"

Luke shook his head. "I don't know, Ben. That's not even for myself to question. What I do know, however, is that you are to go to your cabin aboard this ship right now. I will think of a more suitable reprimand for you after we return to Coruscant."

Ben scowled, but he obeyed as he turned and deliberately stomped out of the _Jade Shadow_'s cockpit to his room. Luke heard all of his son's stomps until he reached his room, and heard him slam the door shut using the Force for dramatic effect. The Grand Master shook his head at Ben's insolence before turning back to the view of hyperspace before him.

By all means, Luke had every right to reward Ben rather than reprimand him, he thought. Jacen Solo, the failed son of Han and Leia, became a pariah to all his friends and family as Darth Caedus, and on some level, Luke felt that Ben was right; Jacen shouldn't be given another chance.

But the Force thought he deserved one; and the Jedi served the Force as much as it served them. To deny the will of the Force, as Ben did, no matter who was brought back from the dead, was to deny the scruples of serving life itself, which ultimately leads to the failure of the Jedi Order on its part. That was why Yoda's Order fell under Palpatine's wrath; the Jedi fell into arrogance and self-contentment within their place as only the guardians of the Old Republic, which led to their stagnation and the rise of the Sith.

Luke vowed never to let his own Jedi Order fall because of that; and that vow concerned serving the Force to whatever its will desired. His own emotions, as much as he hated to admit, were virtually of no importance here, and neither was his son's.

Sometimes, Luke thought, it was easy to be a Jedi; always knowing for sure what was right and wrong, serving as role models and examples for the rest of the galaxy to aspire by and follow. But other times, like these, where the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few or the one, being a Jedi, especially its Grand Master, was one of the hardest things to live as.


	17. Chapter 17

"Allana?" C-3PO asked the little girl seated across from him in her private cabin aboard the _Millennium Falcon_. "Can you please pay attention to your studies?"

Allana looked away from the random spot on the wall behind C-3PO to regard the droid himself. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, I was just... thinking other things, Threepio."

"Well, if you continue to think of these other things, Chume'da, they will distract you from what is truly important, and one of them happens to be your basic algebra homework," C-3PO said, obviously oblivious to why his charge was distracted. "The only times you are allowed to talk here is when you ask me questions about any specific problems you may have-"

"Do you think I should talk to my daddy while he's in jail, Threepio?" Allana interrupted.

"Oh," C-3PO said, finally realizing what was distracting the girl. "I see. I meant any problems about your homework, but I can see now that you are still, as your grandfather would say, 'hung up' on today's events aboard Admiral Darklighter's Star Destroyer. But if it will help you get back on track with your homework-" He was cut off from speaking any further when Allana used the Force to trip his circuit breaker, shutting him off in an instant.

"No thanks, Threepio," she said to his deactivated form as she stood up from her seat. "I think I'd rather talk to my grandparents about this."

She then walked to leave her cabin in search of her grandparents in the _Falcon_'s cockpit. There, however, she only found Leia sitting there, reclining in the pilot seat as she watched the stretched starlines of hyperspace through the forward viewport with a look of deep contemplation on her face, as Allana could see in the viewport's reflection of her grandmother in her approach. The little girl was curious as to why Leia didn't even acknowledge her approach from the same reflection, never mind through their connection in the Force, until she finally stopped beside her.

Leia then looked at her granddaughter with an expression of mild surprise. "Allana. Shouldn't you be studying your math with Threepio?"

Allana only shrugged in response. "I couldn't stop thinking about Daddy. And I was wondering where Grandpa was."

"He's in the cabin he shares with me," Leia answered. "He needed sometime alone until we arrived at Coruscant."

"Thank you," she said before turning to leave the cockpit.

Leia sat up from the pilot seat and craned her neck in Allana's direction. "Where are you going?"

"To get Grandpa," Allana answered without slowing down.

"What for?" Leia asked as she stood up from the seat and followed her granddaughter to the cabin she shared with Han.

Instead of answering, Allana stopped at the cabin and knocked. "Grandpa, it's me. Open up."

"Go back to your homework," Han's voice came curtly from the other side.

"Grandpa, we have to talk about this," Allana said as Leia joined her. "We can't just be quiet about this all the way back to Coruscant."

"Allana, let's go," Leia said as she gently took hold of her granddaughter's shoulder. "Your grandfather's right, you do have to do your homework. And no more tripping Threepio's circuit breaker." By then, she was already leading Allana away from the cabin.

Allana stopped in her tracks and gently took her grandmother's hand away from her shoulder. "This isn't right. We have to talk about this." Her tone was insistent.

Leia sighed as she looked down upon her granddaughter. "What would you like to say then?"

Allana shook her head. "Oh, no, you and Grandpa are going to have your say first, Grandma. If there's anyone who deserves any say about my daddy first, it's his parents."

It was then that the door to Allana's grandparents' cabin _whooshed!_ open to reveal a surprisingly haggard-looking Han Solo, who was really looking his age now. His wife and grandchild turned to regard him with understandable trepidation.

"You know what I'd like to say?" Han retorted. "I'm honestly glad he's back, but not because I missed him; I wanted him all to myself so I could smack him upside the head for all he did. But I guess I'll have to settle for watching him die from a killtab, and that's my only regret that he's back."

"You can't mean that, Grandpa," Allana said stoically. "I know you don't."

"Well, it's all I have to say, so let your grandmother speak, have your say, then go back to your room and don't come out either 'til you've done your homework or 'til we've arrived at Coruscant, whatever comes first," Han said with a growl.

Allana's gaze lingered on her grandfather for a few seconds before she turned and looked back up to her grandmother. "Grandma?"

"All I have to say is that I hope that whatever decision that the judge and jury make at his trial, it'll be fair and unbiased."

Allana then looked from each of her grandparents for several seconds, who only waited patiently for her to speak in turn. "Really? That's it? That's all either of you have to say? Neither of you are just glad that your son is back, and without the evil and darkness that we sensed from him before he died? Well, then, here's what I have to say; I'm glad he's back, and I think he deserves another chance. And who are we kidding, we all know that with Daala in charge, Daddy's fate, along with his Yuuzhan Vong friend, will be sealed before the judge and jury even declare them guilty, and they both may get the killtab in that very courtroom for the rest of the galaxy."

"So what are you saying we should do then, Allana?" Leia asked. "Break your father out of prison and get not ourselves and the Jedi Order in trouble because you think he deserves another chance after squandering so many?"

Allana looked up at her grandmother with her lip trembling in a mixture of anger and sadness. But she said no more before she turned away and headed back to her room angrily.

"I certainly hope Nom Anor gets the killtab at least," Han said once he heard Allana return to her cabin.

Leia looked back at her husband with a raised eyebrow. "You don't really want to see Jacen die again, huh?"

"Do you?" Han asked.

With some hesitation, Leia finally relented and shook her head. "Not at all."


	18. Chapter 18

"And we're outta hyperspace," Jacen said blandly.

"Don't do that," Nommy said just as blandly.

"What?"

"Use the Force like that."

"Why?"

"I hate it when you use the Force like that. Like I'd want to know that we've arrived at the planet we're finally going to die on."

"You're so full of hope, it makes me feel warm inside, you know," Jacen said sarcastically.

"I'll be more full of hope if you tell me you have an escape plan from all this," Nommy responded.

"I'm still thinking about it," Jacen said.

"You're still thinking about it, or do you mean you just remembered we can't afford to die now and you're only just beginning to formulate a rough outline of a plan in your head right now?" Nommy asked.

Jacen was silent. "Don't do that."

"What?"

"Read my mind without the Force."

"Why?"

"It's creepy," Jacen said with the utmost sarcasm.

"What makes you think I don't have the Force?" Nommy asked with obvious bravado.

"The fact that I can't sense a presence within you yet," Jacen replied flatly.

"Well, hey, you couldn't sense the presences of your Force-sensitive friends and family arriving to see us on Darklighter's Star Destroyer, so maybe you're somewhat out of tune there," Nommy countered smartly. "Speaking of which, I noticed, among your idiocy with Daala, that you forgot to ask any of the Jedi in that hangar bay how and why they didn't even sense your resurrection."

"Yeah, I was just so hung up on that whole Daala being Galactic Alliance Chief of State that it just slipped my mind," Jacen said. "I mean, if you knew about her history in the galaxy, you'd understand the stupidity, too."

"I've been spying on this galaxy for decades, Jacen, before you were even born," Nommy pointed out. "I'm well aware of what Daala did as an Imperial, and I agree, her election as Chief of State is definitely baffling. But what's more baffling, to me at least, is that you were stupid enough to point that out in front of everyone when we were in no position to be pointing that out."

"Oh, so me not pointing it out would've changed Daala's mind," Jacen said. "You know, I'm the optimistic one in this situation, and I'm the one here pointing out how me not pointing out how ridiculous Daala being Chief of State wouldn't have made a difference."

"You still thinking about our escape plan?" Nommy asked dully.

"I am, but if you could help, it'd be most appreciative," Jacen said just as flatly, belaying the condescension he meant.

"Well, you do know that as smart as she thinks she is, Daala decided not to bring a ysalamari along, otherwise you still wouldn't be using the Force," Nommy pointed out. "Why don't you just use your powers to blow open that door, defeat all the guards out there, and we can take over the ship?"

"What a brilliant idea," Jacen said in a falsely upbeat tone. It then turned condescending again. "Only we're now on Coruscant, and we wouldn't be able to flee with an entire fleet behind us, especially if we took the Chief of State hostage."

Nommy sighed. "I can't believe we didn't think of this while we were in hyperspace."

"I did, just so you know," Jacen said.

"Oh, sure, you did," Nommy said as he rolled his eye in annoyance.

"No, no, I mean it," Jacen said. "But here's why I didn't even bring it up: we wouldn't be doing the galaxy any favors if we took over the ship and took Daala hostage, which would have lead us to being fugitives. This would've cut us off from working with the Jedi Order in any capacity to defeat Abeloth, which would most likely lead to the deaths of every being, sentient and non, across this white disk composed of billions of stars and planets."

"So just letting them take us for execution and not thinking up of a better plan beforehand was a good idea, huh?" Nommy retorted.

Before Jacen could counter, the door to their cell opened up, and Daala stood there with the soldiers who took Jacen and Nommy standing behind and beside her. She looked at them silently with disgust for a moment before saying, "Take them." The soldiers with her then moved into the cell, casually approached the prisoners, who looked bored as they raised their hands to be stuncuffed, and it took virtually no effort to haul Jacen and Nommy up to move them out of the cell.

Moments later, with Daala walking ahead of them, and the two soldiers walking behind them, Jacen and Nommy were led down the shuttle's boarding ramp, and found themselves once again greeted by shouted questions from the dozens of media representatives on the platform that the shuttle landed on. The five of them walked through the area designated for them to pass through and ignore the media spectators so that they could arrive at the waiting airspeeder piloted by the patient Weequay trooper there. Daala took the forward passenger seat, and the rest of her company took the backseat, with Jacen and Nommy seated between their military captors as the speeder zoomed away for the Armand Isard Correctional Facility.

"Jacen," Nommy said, " did I ever before convey to you the idea that I have a bad feeling about this?"

"Many times before, Nommy," Jacen said in an annoyed tone. "What about it?"

"Well, it's just that I think we should try to escape now," Nommy said so casually that the company around them almost didn't seem to notice.

But they did, and even the driver looked back for a second to regard them before realizing he had to keep his eyes on the traffic lanes before him.

Jacen sighed. "Nommy, that's a bad idea because..." He deliberately trailed off before quickly forming a double fist to smack into the face of the trooper next to him, which Nommy also quickly did. Jacen then kicked Daala directly in her forehead before swinging the same foot right across the Weequay's, knocking him out instantly.

In response, the speeder began a steep dive for the ground miles below.

During the rapid descent, Jacen grabbed the key that would open his and Nommy's stuncuffs from the unconscious soldier next to him, and he hurriedly unlocked the stuncuffs, letting them fall off to the side. He then unlocked Nommy's cuffs, and he tossed them out the side of the vehicle before they grabbed the two soldiers' rifles.

Jacen then used his stolen rifle's strap to place it upon himself before hugging onto Nommy and propelling the both of them out of the airspeeder. Together, thanks to Jacen's jump, the two of them soared for a building up ahead. The human then used the Force to break open the viewpanel ahead of them, and they then landed inside the apartment of an old Wookiee couple watching the HoloNet on their living area couch. Neither of the hairy sentients noticed the intruders behind them roughly enter their apartment, so they were most likely deaf, an indication all the more given as they were just watching a muted screen of a holosoap opera play.

Landing on their sides, Jacen and Nommy let go of each other to stand up, and the former then rushed back to the broken window to reach out to the Force down in the direction of the descending airspeeder, touching the Weequay driver's mind and stimulating him awake. Upon his return to consciousness, the driver then veered the airspeeder up and back toward traffic, his mind too busy on returning course that Jacen figured it'd only be a few moments before he realized that the prisoners that were supposed to be in the speeder's backseat were gone.

"Let's go," Jacen said to Nommy as he turned around and headed for the exit of the apartment.


	19. Chapter 19

"You know, I honestly thought you were going to give me an explanation as to why we shouldn't escape back there," Nommy commented as he and Jacen trod down the corridor of the apartment complex level they were on.

"What we needed was a sure way off, was all, and we got it," Jacen said without looking away from the turbolift up ahead. "Now all we have to do is go down to the underworld of this planet and-"

Jacen was cut off from speaking any further as a bare foot coming from off to the side slammed into his right temple, flinging him to the wall opposite. He slammed there and collapsed like a pile of bricks to the ground.

Nommy stopped dead in his tracks and looked to find that Jacen's assailant was Tahiri Veila, dressed in a modest blue robe and not wearing any footwear. Nommy and Veila reached eye contact, prompting the former to swing the rifle Jacen gave him in her direction. But before he could pull the trigger, Veila reached out with an open palm, and the rifle fell to pieces at Nommy's feet.

The Yuuzhan Vong looked back up at Veila and offered a nervous smile. Veila, in turn, tilted her head with a mocking smile before rushing in and smacking Nommy up the jaw, sending him flying back to the wall behind him before he joined the unconscious Jacen on the floor.

Minutes later, both the unconscious forms of Jacen and Nommy were tied up against Tahiri's dining area chairs via a metallic cable that she was afforded from the military after she retired following the Second Galactic Civil War. After double-checking to make sure they were secured where they were, Tahiri turned and walked to the nearest comm to call the police.

But just as her hand reached the comm, it suddenly imploded, sending sparks flying through the air and coercing Tahiri to back away in figurative shock. She turned back to her captors and found Jacen with his right hand open facing her general direction.

"Hello, Tahiri," he said without mirth.

"Hello, Jacen," Tahiri replied in the same tone.

She then leaped off to the side and rolled up toward the caf table that held the rifle that Jacen stole from his captor. However, as soon as she aimed the gun for him, Jacen had already sent out another Force-pulse for the rifle itself, which quickly knocked it out of Tahiri's hands and back to the wall behind her, where it shattered into several pieces in an instant.

Then, when Tahiri looked from the ruins of the rifle back to Jacen, she found that he was already on his feet, the metal cable tying him in that chair now in two at his feet.

Seeing the look of shock on her face, Jacen smiled that old Solo lopsided grin and said, "One of my classic Force tricks."

Her face in a determined lock, Tahiri turned to a nearby cabinet and reached out with one hand. The cabinet opened up a drawer, and from it, the pommel of her deactivated lightsaber came flying into her hand, where it smacked against her palm for activation. The resultant blue light of her shimmering blade allowed Tahiri to fall into a Soresu stance against the weaponless Jacen.

Then again, when one had the Force, one was a weapon in and of him- or herself.

And since he was one who was not only brought back from the dead because of the Force, but also because he had once been so completely a part of it that he actually believed that he was the Force for one all-too brief moment in time, Jacen Solo was probably the most dangerous weapon of all time.

So, really, it was no surprise when all Jacen had to do was just reach out with one hand and crumble Tahiri's lightsaber in his very grip, the pieces of the pommel falling to her feet, along with the blue power crystal that gave the blade life.

When Tahiri looked back up at Jacen again, she was shaking in fear even with her Soresu stance still up.

"Can we just talk?" Jacen asked in an innocent tone.

"Stay away from me!" Tahiri nearly shouted.

"You're gonna start screaming, aren't you?" Jacen asked.

"Hel-" Tahiri tried to shout. But Jacen had already reached out and shut her mouth so that her shout turned into a faint mumble.

As Tahiri vainly clawed at her mouth to get it open, Jacen closed his eyes, reached out with his other hand, and soon, even Tahiri's muffled screams were silenced as she collapsed back to the floor asleep.

A little later, after Jacen placed Tahiri's sleeping form on her bed, he went to find a bucket in one of the lower kitchen drawers. He found that bucket, filled it up with tap water from the sink, then walked over to Nommy's unconscious form and splashed the water onto him, waking him up instantly. The Yuuzhan Vong couldn't help but mutter a curse in his own language when this happened.

"Was that really necessary?!" he asked, shouting.

"Maybe not, but I still think it's a little funny," Jacen said with a knowing smirk.

Nommy growled. "Just get me out of this cable, will you?"

Jacen dropped the now-empty bucket and reached out to the cable with one hand. After a few seconds of contacting the cable, it then just snapped in two, letting Nommy stand up in freedom again.

"Alright, new plan," Jacen said. "Originally, before Tahiri knocked me out, I was planning to go down to the underworld of this planet, where no one would see us thanks to the terraforming of your people that still remains down there, and we would've gone to the Jedi Temple. But now I have a different, and probably easier, solution."

"And what's that?" Nommy asked.

Jacen nodded to the open entrance to Tahiri's bedroom, where she was still sleeping peacefully. "Once I get her to join our cause, she'll be able to get us to the Temple quicker, and we'd still remain incognito."

"That's assuming she has an airspeeder of her own," Nommy pointed out. "Do you know if she has one?"

"That's one of the questions I'm gonna ask her," Jacen said. "So, until then, you can just back and watch some of the HoloNet. And let me know if we get caught by the CSF, because I'll be able to make a quick getaway for us out of Tahiri's bedroom window."

"Got it." Then Nommy went to sit down and turned on the HoloNet while Jacen went to Tahiri's bedroom.


	20. Chapter 20

If Natasi Daala had the power or ability to barge through the door of her office and not break her angry and brisk stride for her desk, she would have sent the door clattering to the ground and walked over it without giving a second thought. As it was, thanks to the power of advancing technology, she had no choice but to stop to palm the door open before continuing her walk, as if she never stopped anyway, for her desk. Upon sitting down, she wasted no time in establishing a connection to Chief Jeddak of the Coruscant Security Force and demanding from the nervous-sounding lieutenant answering her call from the other end to get Jeddak right this instant.

"Jacen Solo and Nom Anor are on the loose, Chief Jeddak," Daala said with military curtness. "I want a manhunt for them up and down and all across the planet _now_."

"Already on it, Chief Daala," Jeddak's voice came from the other end, belaying any impatience she might have felt at the government's leader's temperament. "Will that be all?"

"Let's hope it is," Daala said before cutting off the connection immediately.

It was at that point the doorchime to Daala's office rang. She pressed the response button on the right of her desktop to find out who it was.

"It's Dorvan," the voice came from the other end, after Daala asked the arrival to identify him- or herself. "May I come in?"

"Yes," Daala responded before cutting off that connection.

A few seconds later, the door to her office opened, and her Chief of Staff, Wynn Dorvan, waked in to head for one of the seats there. "May I have a seat?" he politely inquired.

His political correctness sometimes infuriated Daala, but she never let it show, just as she didn't now. "You may, Wynn," she said in her most calm tone. "And you may also speak, as well." She figured he'd ask that.

After Dorvan was seated, he asked, "I have a question about Jacen Solo."

"Ask it then," Daala nearly growled, her patience already waning.

"Considering that he already paid for his crimes, given his death by the hands of his own sister," Dorvan began, "don't you think arresting him was... unnecessary?"

"Solo escaped the punishment he deserved when his sister killed him," Daala said. "Justice, as dictated by a supreme court, but which this government had no chance of placing upon him while he was running it. I intended to make sure he would face justice, as he should have. And this is a moot point anyway, Wynn, since Solo and Nom Anor defied military and police custody, so regardless of whether or not Solo alone should die again, he's now a fugitive of the law for escaping my grasp, and for attacking me." She indicated the bacta patch on the back of her head, which she received via a quick visit at one of Coruscant's walk-in med clinics for the kick in the head Solo gave her during his and Nom Anor's escape from her custody.

"Fair enough," Dorvan acknowledged, "but surely, the punishment against him would be levied. I imagine he would, at worst, at least for him anyway, receive a life sentence in a maximum security facility."

"And what do you think would happen if he were lucky?" Daala asked.

Dorvan shrugged. "Either way, how can you be sure that this really is Jacen Solo, resurrected from the dead because of the Force, Natasi?"

"While the Jedi may say that he really is Jacen Solo, I am, quite frankly, unsure if this really is him, which is why I would have made sure to get the finest professionals in this government to run DNA scans and whatever else to make sure that he isn't a clone or something like that," Daala said. "That is, if he and Nom Anor didn't escape."

Dorvan nodded. "I heard what Solo said to you aboard that Star Destroyer on the HoloNet today, by the way."

Daala snorted. "About me being elected. Because, I swear, if I hear another one of those-"

"No, no, no, I meant about why he returned, when he answered your question," Dorvan clarified. "What if he's telling the truth, as Grand Master Skywalker said?"

"Wynn, I don't know why Skywalker would stick out for Jacen Solo, even if he is his nephew, especially considering all of Solo's transgressions during the recent war," Daala said. "But regardless, if this Force entity, as Solo put it, really exists, I'm going to make sure that I send scouts throughout the galaxy to make sure there's some validity to his claim. I'll make sure they search the Maw, if they have to."

"It sounds like you'd be taking Solo's claim seriously enough to warrant search parties," Dorvan pointed out.

"Skywalker pointed it out, and regardless of whatever differences he and I may have, I can't just deny Solo's claim, or Skywalker's confirmation, out of hand so readily," Daala said. "Especially when it not only concerns the safety of this government, but for the safety of the galaxy overall. And I somehow doubt that Skywalker affirming his nephew's claim was just defending Jacen." She then leveled her gaze fully on Dorvan to find him pondering. "You have a thought, Wynn?"

"Considering all you said, I suggest that if Solo is caught, it would be wise to leave him in the Jedi Order's custody," Dorvan said. "I'm sure they have more adequate resources in their Temple to keep him locked up anyway."

"I could have placed Solo in carbonite, like his father, if I had to," Daala said.

"But what if the Jedi, or even Luke Skywalker himself, ask for Solo?" Dorvan asked. "After all, Skywalker did say that his nephew was telling the truth."

Daala sat back and considered her answer for a few crucial moments before answering. "Then I'll give them Solo; but I'll be keeping tabs on his imprisonment with spies acting as maintenance staff in the Temple."

"You don't think the Jedi will see right through that with their senses?" Dorvan asked.

"They'll be sleeper agents," Daala said. "And I'll have whatever they see and hear wired right back to their monitors without the Jedi even knowing."

Dorvan nodded. "And Nom Anor? What will be of him?"

"I don't even think you'll object if that Vong is executed," she answered.


	21. Chapter 21

When Tahiri awoke, she immediately squirmed beneath the metal cables binding her by her arms and legs to her bed upon seeing Jacen leer over her with an expectant look, sitting in the chair she bound him in while he was unconscious. Once it occurred to her that her efforts would be in vain, she screamed out for help until her lungs felt like they couldn't allow her to shout anymore.

"You know, while you were doing that, I had a Force-bubble around this room preventing any sound from escaping," Jacen said. "So good job on nearly giving yourself a sore throat for nothing."

"Wh-what are you going to do to me?" Tahiri asked fearfully, her voice now an unintentional whisper.

"Ask for your help, and I'm going to convince you to do that," Jacen said. "You see, Nommy and I-"

"Wait, wait... _Nommy_?" Tahiri asked incredulously, in spite herself. "Nommy? Really, Jacen? You're giving that bastard a nickname? Even if you were the Jacen that was once Anakin's brother, I have a hard time believing you'd give Nom Anor any kind of affection."

"Well, he is part of my journey, as I have to make sure he gets the Force, redeem the Yuuzhan Vong, give the rest of them the Force, yaddi-yaddi-yadda," Jacen said. "You heard all that before on the HoloNet, right?"

"Yeah, and I still believe it's _osik_, as the Mandalorians would say," Tahiri said. "That, and the very idea of this Force entity that could destroy the galaxy. And even if this Abeloth did exist, I doubt the Jedi really need you to defeat it."

"If that's the case, then why did the Force bring me back?" Jacen retorted.

"I don't know, and I don't care," Tahiri said without hesitation. "All I know is that I'll never help you ever again, after all you did to me; I have no idea why I continued to help you at Shedu Maad even after you told me I couldn't stop Anakin's death with flow-walking."

Jacen's lips were set firm as he looked back at Tahiri with regret. "I don't expect you to forgive me, Tahiri, nor do I expect anyone else to either. Hell, I don't think I can forgive myself for all I did. But this isn't about you or me; it's about what the Force itself wants-"

"I vowed to never help you again even if the fate of the Force itself depended on it," Tahiri said.

Jacen gave her a mixed look of confusion and sadness. "You actually vowed that?"

Tahiri nodded. "I had dreams that you'd return, Jacen. I wasn't sure if they were visions or just nightmares, but I still made my internal vow not to help you at all, alive or dead."

"You're betraying the Jedi, Tahiri," Jacen said. "Even though they didn't give me another chance at Shedu Maad - and I don't blame them - they gave you another chance."

"They spared me, and they offered me back, but I quit," Tahiri said.

Jacen sighed in defeat. He understood why she would leave the Order entirely, but he was still disappointed. The thought that she wouldn't even help him for the sake of the Force became secondary then.

Right at that moment, Jacen seized up in a vision. He saw a future in which police showed up at Tahiri's apartment, arrested her, having her stand trial for murdering Imperial Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon during the Second Battle of Fondor, and then finally executing her in a grand room by forcing her to swallow a killtab.

When Jacen came out of the vision, he realized that that future will happen if he and Nommy just leave Tahiri here to continue on their own for the Jedi Temple. So he looked back down at her and said, "Tahiri, whether you like it or not, you're coming with us, or you're gonna die here." Before the blond-haired woman could protest, Jacen placed his left palm on her head and induced another temporary sleeping coma, one which should last Tahiri a few hours.

He then unwound the metal cables holding her down, picked up her sleeping form, and carried her out of the room to meet with Nommy. "We're gettin' outta here now," he said as he made his way for the apartment's exit, seeing the Yuuzhan Vong still watching the HoloNet, "so turn that off and follow me."

Nommy did as he was told, but once he caught up with Jacen as he palmed the exit open, the Yuuzhan Vong asked, "Okay, but how is she going to help us drive to the Jedi Temple when she's unconscious?"

"She won't," Jacen said as they entered the corridor and continued toward the turbolift that Tahiri stopped them from going to earlier. "We're taking her with us."

"Jacen, we have enough crimes on our hands, we don't need kidnapping to be an addendum," Nommy said as they made it for the turbolift, but turned to make it for the door that would lead to the stairwell; since turbolifts tended to have security cams installed, it wouldn't do to enter one when you were a fugitive or two with an unconscious woman.

"It's not that simple," Jacen said as he kicked open the door to the stairwell and then began making his way down, Nommy still following. "I had a vision showing me that she'll die if not for us, for a mistake I made her go through. And even if I have to kidnap her, then so be it."

Nommy sighed in defeat combined with trying to keep up with the former Jedi ahead of him. "What did you make her do anyway?"

"She killed the leader of the Imperial Remnant," Jacen answered simply but with obvious regret in his tone.

"Ah," Nommy replied with understanding.


	22. Chapter 22

Around the time Chief of State Daala's shuttle landed so that Jacen Solo and Nom Anor could be taken to the Armand Isard Correctional Facility, all the Jedi who had followed Daala back to the planet had immediately returned to their Temple for Grand Master Skywalker to arrange a meeting with his nephew while he and his Yuuzhan Vong counterpart were in prison.

But as soon as Luke returned to his desk in his office, his commlink beeped. Once he answered it, the panicked voice of his niece, Jaina Solo, said, "Uncle Luke, take out your datapad and tune it to the HoloNet right now! Jacen and Nom Anor are on the loose!" Luke did as Jaina instructed, and found that, indeed, a warrant was out for Jacen and Nom Anor's arrests.

"Alright, Jaina, I want you to take Jedi Valin Horn with you and find him immediately," Luke told her over their continued comm discussion. "Any questions?"

"No, Uncle Luke, although I have to tell you, I can't seem to sense Jacen, no matter how hard I try," she said. "He must be blocking me."

"Do what you have to to find him, and I want him back alive this time." Even he found himself startled at how he said that without the slightest bit of hesitation.

But Jaina seemed to be at a loss for words that, for a moment, Luke's connection with her was lost for some kind of outside reason. However, her voice came back with an affirmative, "Yes, Master Skywalker." Then she signed off.

.

Jacen, with Tahiri's still-sleeping body in his arms, kicked open the door that led out into the Vongformed underworld of Coruscant. Nommy, a member of the species that commenced this not only on this world's undercity but also on the rest of it more than a decade earlier, followed along and couldn't help but look around at the decrepit ruins of what his people left behind.

"By the gods," he said, "at least when the Shamed Ones ran this place, there was at least the Yuuzhan Vong version of order and cleanliness around here."

"Yeah, well," Jacen said without looking back as he walked to where he sensed the Jedi Temple would be, "this place could've been better had the World Brain not been lost three years ago." He realized that he never thought much about his friend, the dhuryam that once ran this planet's technical functions back when the Yuuzhan Vong occupied Coruscant as Yuuzhan'tar, long after it was killed by the insane Dark Jedi Alema Rar.

"How are you so sure where we're going?" Nommy asked.

"I'm using my Force-senses," Jacen answered without slowing his pace. "And making sure none of the Jedi can sense me in turn. We can't have them catch us until we reach the Temple, or else they might just as well hand us over back to Daala."

"Well, what makes you think the Jedi won't just turn us over to Daala even after we make it to the Temple?" Nommy asked.

"Because I think I can still convince my Uncle Luke that he needs me to help him stop Abeloth," Jacen answered. "And even with me on the loose, I doubt he'll come out here to get us himself; he'll probably send someone else, like my sister, to do it, and whoever will do it will be less objective-thinking than my uncle."

"Hence, why they might turn us in back to Daala," Nommy reasoned. "And that's assuming they can even control themselves from killing either of us. But I have another question."

"Go ahead," Jacen said without betraying whatever annoyance he may be having over Nommy's questioning.

"Even if we do make it to the Temple to talk to your uncle," Nommy began, "and even assuming we make it past the hundreds of Jedi in that Temple without getting killed or captured-"

"Getting captured inside the Temple is the plan," Jacen said. "From there, they'll place us in a holding cell, take Tahiri from us, which is okay with me, just so long as she stays away from her apartment, and then Uncle Luke will talk to me before the Jedi even think about calling the cops."

"Alright, that answers my questions about the Jedi's intentions about us," Nommy said. "But that just brings up yet another question."

"Uh-huh." Again, no betrayal in his tone over how annoyed he might be.

"It's about the woman you just kidnapped."

"_We_ just kidnapped," Jacen corrected.

"Whatever. Once the Jedi take her from you - I mean us - they'll just send her right back to her apartment, you know. So kidnapping her and taking her as extra baggage on this trip seems pretty pointless to me."

"That's why I'm also gonna to tell Uncle Luke that Tahiri needs to stay in the Temple for as long as possible," Jacen said.

"For as long as possible as when?" Nommy asked. "For all you know, even if the police show up at her doorstep to arrest her for killing Gilad Pellaeon and find that she's not there, they aren't going to stop in their search. And pretty soon from there, they'll find out she's hiding out in the Jedi Temple, which is assuming the Jedi will grant you that much, along with sparing our lives and giving us asylum, and they might as well arrest her there anyway."

"At least it'll delay the cops long enough to come with a way to prevent Tahiri getting the killtab for murdering Pellaeon," Jacen said.

Nommy sighed. But before he could say anymore, he and Jacen stopped in their tracks when they heard a creaking noise. They looked off to their right to find a metal door clang to the yorik coral-formed ground, revealing nothing but darkness from the building the door fell away from.

"Somehow," Jacen said nervously, "I don't think that just came from a lack of maintenance."

He and Nommy then swiveled around thanks to the sound of footsteps, but found nothing; nothing but the trace of a retreating shadow of something vaguely humanoid disappear around the edge of a rundown building nearby.

Nommy looked at Jacen, fear evident on his face. "Jacen? Do you know how exactly the World Brain died?"

"It had nothing to do with what we might just be facing," Jacen said as he carefully lowered Tahiri to the ground. He then hastily took out the pieces of Tahiri's lightsaber he placed in his belt and quickly used the Force to fuse them all together the pommel it once was.

"I thought nobody could put together a lightsaber but the Jedi or Sith that puts together his or her own," Nommy pointed out.

"Special powers, remember?" Jacen retorted.

"It's a wonder how you lost when you-"

Nommy's counter was cut off when a new set of footsteps were heard from the other side. When Jacen and Nommy turned to look, they actually managed to see a dark form disappear just behind the building nearby. And that very same figured seemed to utter a low growl that still managed to carry to the ears of its impending targets.

"What will we be facing?" Nommy asked.

"Ferals," Jacen answered.

At that, a group of wild humanoids jumped out of the entryway that lost its door, and two seconds later, they were joined by other Ferals from behind the other nearby buildings to charge for the three living meals available now.


	23. Chapter 23

A sudden spike in the Force was what allowed Jaina to sense that her hated brother, and by association his hated Yuuzhan Vong counterpart, were down in the Vongformed underworld of Coruscant, and most likely in danger, given the urgent feeling she was getting from Jacen's presence.

Her first thought was just to set the airspeeder was she was piloting down on the roof of the nearest building and just wait for whatever danger that Jacen and Nom Anor were confronting to kill them. Alas, however, even if the passenger in the next seat over, Valin Horn, were to agree with her, Jaina doubted that Uncle Luke would believe either of them, and she had a feeling that he wouldn't tolerate her or Valin's insubordination, even if she did let Jacen and Nom Anor die.

So, with obvious reluctance, Jaina almost leisurely found a route from which she could exit the sky traffic she was following and dive down to the section of the underworld where she sensed Jacen was fighting for his life.

.

Using Tahiri's lightsaber as his and Nommy's only real defense, Jacen swung the blazing blue blade around to slash down all of the Ferals coming his way with the blinding speed that only the Force could give him. Hence, even with the wild humanoids coming in from all around, not a single one of them could get past Jacen's borrowed blade to get him, Nommy, or Tahiri.

Yet there seemed like there were a million Ferals coming in from all around, and as time passed, it seemed like they didn't have a problem mounting the pile of maimed and dismembered bodies that Jacen was unintentionally creating. And even with the Force as his ally in this fight, Jacen didn't know if he could keep it up forever; he wondered why the Force could give him unlimited power in defeating one Force-sensitive psychopath like Onimi all those years ago, yet when it comes to an army of Ferals, he could only rely on the abilities and skills he gained from all his years in training. He thought this must have been a fraction of what Ganner Rhysode felt when he sacrificed himself for him and Vergere against that army of Yuuzhan Vong at the Well of the World Brain sixteen years earlier, only without the feeling of joining the Force that Jacen would live through in his fight against Onimi.

By the time Jacen thought he was going to wind down and let the remaining zombie-like creatures eat him, Nommy, and Tahiri alive, several red laser bolts began raining from the sky, expertly downing Ferals as they came before they had a chance to climb over the pile of corpses formed around Jacen and his helpless charges. It wasn't long before the raining lasers stopped, and in their wake, the sound of screaming Ferals were fading away, the survivors taking the hint and leaving lest they end up like their fallen comrades; that was all Jacen had to go on that the Ferals had retreated, considering that what he came to think of as his all-around corpse fort obscured any views from hereon up by twenty meters.

However, the corpse fort didn't obstruct his view of the incoming airspeeder that was lowering within his area, blasting away bodies with its repulsors so that they were flung elsewhere in the general vicinity. Once it came to settle in front of Jacen, he saw who was in it; his sister Jaina, and Valin Horn.

As soon as the speeder's engines thrummed off, both Jaina and Valin leaped from the open-topped vehicle to land a bare meter in front of Jacen, igniting their lightsabers and raising them up against him.

"What have you done to her?" Valin asked worriedly about Tahiri.

"I put her to sleep, she'll be up in a few minutes," Jacen assured him.

"Okay then, with that said, I'll give you this one chance, Jacen," Jaina said sternly. "Put down the lightsaber and surrender."

For a moment, Jacen thought of doing just that without a fuss. But then he narrowed his eyes and said, "One chance?" He then widened his arms out, keeping the lightsaber in his hand active. "One chance, Jaina?! That's all you and everyone else gave me back when I was turning into Caedus, huh?! None of you - not Mom, not Dad, not Uncle Luke, not Aunt Mara, not Ben, not even you - ever really did anything to bring me back from the edge! All you did were make those token, half-assed efforts that made it seem like you were trying to get through, but you know what? I didn't resist because I fell so hard, I didn't resist because you didn't try hard enough!

"Okay, when I was burning Kashyyyk, kriffin' Lowie made more of an effort trying to get back at me, and by the Force, he really came close. And granted, yeah, I didn't come back, but you know what, if any of you had even given me half the effort Lowie put forth when I was burning his homeplanet, I could've been saved, but you didn't! You didn't, and when I was trying to do something good in the last moments of my life, which was to save my ex-lover and my daughter from an Imperial nanovirus, I was actually telling you the truth, but you were so blind to your cause, Jaina, that you no longer cared if I even _was_ telling the truth, and you were so deadset on killing me that you didn't even realize what I was trying to do until you had that blade of yours lodged into my heart! YOUR OWN BROTHER'S HEART! And you know what I saw from the afterlife before I completely sank in the Lake of Apparitions? Yes, I saw you, Mom, and Dad grieve over me, but I never once saw any of you truly regret it, like there could have been any other way you could've stopped me without ending my life.

"I know I did some terrible things, things that most would say were truly irredeemable. But Darth Vader was redeemed after more than twenty years of serving the Emperor, with Uncle Luke spending only a little time with him; Kyp Durron blew up a whole planet, with his brother on it, even if he was compelled or possessed by an ancient Sith Lord, but Uncle Luke and Dad gave him another chance, and now he's one of the Masters on the Jedi Council! Yet, with all of you, my friends and family, around me during my fall, I'd've expected better from you to help me, to save me, so we could've helped make the galaxy a better place the right way.

"But instead, you fell into the very same self-righteousness and moral viewpoint of black and white that had destroyed Yoda's Order, the very same narrow views that we thought we grew from after the Yuuzhan Vong War, and now we're falling back into it; you're acting more like mindless drones, like a kriffin' cult, to Uncle Luke's Order, and you don't even mind it. I saw more individuality from a member of a Killik hive mind than I'm seeing in you, Jaina.

"And don't you dare think I'm blaming you or any of our friends or family for what I've done. What I did was my fault alone, and I acknowledge that. All I'm saying is that, even with the knowledge of all the heinous things I've done, I see how you and everyone else failed to live up to the ideals you all swore to uphold as Jedi."

Jacen then deactivated the lightsaber and let it drop to the ground next to him just as Tahiri was waking and standing up. He then put his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"But I hope to set things right first," he said solemnly, "by taking that once chance you just offered and using it to surrender for the greater good of the galaxy."


	24. Chapter 24

All five occupants in the airspeeder - Jaina, who drove, Valin, who sat next to her in the front passenger side, Tahiri, who sat in the middle of the back seat, and Jacen and Nommy, who sat to either side of Tahiri stuncuffed - were silent as they headed toward the Jedi Temple in the distance.

After a while of the awkward, uncomfortable silence, Nommy, seated to Tahiri's left, looked over at Jacen and said, "You know-"

"Be quiet back there," Jaina interrupted without turning her view away from incoming traffic. Her tone belied any feelings she had of Jacen's rant. "You can speak when you're both in your cell."

Then, all of a sudden, Valin unstrapped his safety harness and quickly leaned over to the wheel, hurriedly trying to wrestle it from Jaina's grip. In spite of the elder Jedi's instinctive resistance, the airspeeder veered out of control and down toward the roof of a smaller skyscraper nearby. The vehicle's underside skidded across the top of the building until Jaina brought her foot straight on the break pedal, bringing the speeder to a screeching halt just as Valin leaped out of the vehicle.

As he sailed through the air, he quickly brandished his lightsaber and threw the laser-projecting pommel back toward the airspeeder, where its arcing trajectory would surely kill the four remaining temporary inhabitants of the vehicle. But Jaina, having already did her own harness, quickly sprung up from where she sat, took out and ignited her own lightsaber, swat Valin's away with her purple blade, then leaped up after the now-weaponless Jedi.

However, in only a matter of seconds, Valin landed like a cat on the roof and two seconds later, having already called upon the Force to recall his lightsaber to his hand, the pommel slapped back into his palm just as Jaina landed in front of him. Valin then displayed an Ataru attack stance and growled, "Where are the real Jaina Solo, Tahiri Veila, and Jacen Solo, you imposter?!"

Since Valin made that unexpected move back in the airspeeder, Jaina had a look that mixed caution and confusion, and it only increased as she looked back at Valin. "What are you talking about, Valin?"

"Don't lie to me!" Valin shouted. "I can sense your presences! You're not really who you pretend to be! So fess up and tell me where they are!"

"Valin, calm down," Jaina said in her most assuring tone. "Deactivate your lightsaber, roll it over to me, and-"

But instead of doing any of that, Valin charged in with a battle cry, swinging his lightsaber to strike down Jaina with the desperation of a madman rather than the serenity of a Jedi. But Jaina, being the Sword of the Jedi, stood her ground and parried away each of Valin's wild strikes with relative ease.

About fifteen seconds into the duel, however, Valin suddenly stepped away as he placed both hands to the side of his head, making sure the blade wouldn't even graze him in the process though. Rather than taking advantage of this development to subdue him, though, Jaina could only look back at the less-experienced Knight with more confusion and concern, which was why she didn't stop him when he broke away and wheeled back toward the airspeeder. Once he was several feet from the Sword of the Jedi, Valin shouted, "Don't you _dare_ get into my head, imposter!" He then used his free hand to send a Force-blast for the downed vehicle.

The inactive airspeeder was then pushed back across the roof and then it tumbled over the ledge behind it. Tahiri, undoing her strap in less than a second, then leaped forward from the backseat to take control of the speeder and hastily began turning it back on. Within less than five seconds, the speeder's repulsors fired back on, and then it did a quick backward flip to right itself back into a horizontal position; only Tahiri holding onto the steering yoke kept her in the pilot seat, and Jacen and Nommy were held back from falling into the depths of Coruscant thanks to their own harnesses. Tahiri then began hovering the airspeeder back to the roof where Jaina and Valin were already continuing their duel.

It didn't look like Jaina was having trouble in fending off Valin, who only seemed to get more aggressive, but no more effective, against his opponent's defenses. His roaring, acting as a primitive fear tactic against his foe, which she wasn't the least bit intimidated by, only made it easier for Jaina to win the duel in the end as she parried away Valin's blade, kicked it away from his hand, and then knocked him unconscious with the butt of her lightsaber pommel.

"Gee, I wonder why she didn't just do that to me," Jacen muttered as Tahiri set the airspeeder down next to Jaina and the unconscious Valin.

The rest of them ignoring Jacen's less-than-quiet remark, Tahiri asked Jaina, "What happened?" as the Sword of the Jedi loaded Valin next to Jacen and Nommy in the backseat.

"I don't know anymore than you do," Jaina replied. She then leaned back from where she deposited Valin and grabbed one of Jacen's wrists, taking out the key from her belt to undo the stuncuffs there.

"Jaina, what are you doing?" Tahiri asked worriedly.

At that, Jacen's stuncuffs were off his wrists and his sister explained, "If Valin wakes up, he could be a serious threat with the Force." She then placed them on the unconscious Jedi's wrists, slapping them together and pressing a button that gave off a slightly brighter blue intensity than before. "Jacen's stuncuffs specifically prevent any Force-sensitive from making contact with it, in case you're all wondering."

"If that's the case, then why didn't it work on me?" Jacen asked.

"What?" Jaina asked.

"While you were fighting Valin," Jacen explained, "I reached out with the Force to touch his mind and make him go to sleep, as I did to Tahiri twice before. That was why Valin used the Force on the airspeeder, to get rid of me as a threat specifically."

"Impossible," Jaina said with a shake of her head. "These stuncuffs should be working."

"I didn't notice that brightness before," Nommy pointed out to the stuncuffs around Valin's wrists. "Not when they were on Jacen."

The three of them looked back and up at Jaina. "You forgot to turn them on," Jacen said dully.

Jaina then made a dumbfounded face. "I-I guess I did. Oops."

"How did you forget that?" Tahiri asked.

Nommy reached up a hand. "Ah, let me guess. That rant kind of caught you off-guard, didn't it?"

Jaina looked at the Yuuzhan Vong with acid on her expression. "Shut up, Nom Anor."

"But it's true, isn't it?" Jacen asked. "Deep down, you know I'm right about everything I said." There was no smugness or arrogance in his tone, just simple fact-stating, as if he were ordering a meal from a restaurant.

Jaina's expression narrowed on her brother. "Just make sure he doesn't escape on the rest of the way back to the Temple," she said.

"You trust him now?" Tahiri asked.

Jaina didn't say anything as she rounded the speeder to vault over it and drop into the passenger seat. "Just get us back to the Temple, Tahiri."

There was some hesitation, but Tahiri lifted the speeder back into the air and headed straight for the Jedi Temple still a few miles away.

Unbeknownst to anyone in that airspeeder, however, from the window of an adjacent building, holojournalist Javis Tyrr had recorded the entire confrontation between Jaina and Valin on his vidcam. Once the speeder was out of sight from his cam, he turned it off and smiled.

The ratings on his hit HoloNet show would go through the roof.


	25. Chapter 25

"Oh, by the way," Jacen said as Tahiri continued to pilot the airspeeder back for the Jedi Temple, "when I made contact with Valin's mind, I sensed a deep dark presence there."

Jaina looked back over at her brother. "What kind of presence?"

"No doubt the one Danni and Sekot brought me back for," Jacen answered. "Abeloth."

"Why didn't you mention this back on the roof?" Jaina asked.

Jacen shrugged. "Didn't wanna waste anymore time back for the Temple. Thought it'd be better to tell you now, you know, kill the time."

Jaina rolled her eyes before getting back to the subject at hand. "Are you sure it was this Abeloth?"

"About ninety-five percent sure," Jacen said flippantly. "The other five percent, it could be any other random Force entity that could've been controlling Valin's mind. In either case, though, I think that's why Valin was able to resist my mental attack, because someone else, someone much powerful than I, was defending him from it."

"You're saying that this Abeloth has control of Valin's mind?" Jaina asked.

Jacen nodded. "Or at least enough to convince him that everyone around him as an imposter by muddying up their presences in the Force to him; enough to compel him to try to escape and return to her, by my guess."

"How do you know that's what Abeloth wants?" Jaina asked just as the airspeeder reached back on the Jedi Temple's roof and Tahiri settled it down on its designated parking area.

Jacen shrugged. "That seems like the obvious conclusion to me."

"If that were the case," Jaina said as she and Tahiri left the open-topped speeder, "why didn't Valin just flee? Why did he decide to fight me rather than try to get to Abeloth?"

Jacen shrugged before he took up Valin's unconscious form in his arms and left the speeder with Nommy in tow. "I guess Abeloth tried to use Valin to eliminate you, since you're quite a considerable threat, Jaina." There was no sarcasm in his tone, because what he said was true; Jaina was a formidable opponent. After all, Luke Skywalker wouldn't have made her the Sword of the Jedi for nothing. That, and the fact that Jacen had more than enough first-hand experience against Jaina's abilities when he was Darth Caedus.

Jaina said nothing as she turned to lead the rest of her company to the nearest turbolift to enter the Temple proper.

"You know, he's been unconscious for an awfully long time now," Nommy pointed out. "What did you do to him?" Even behind her, Jaina knew he was talking to her.

"I don't think it was just Jaina knocking him out, Nommy," Jacen said.

"Nommy?" Jaina asked.

Tahiri looked at her and shook her head; _Don't start_, she indicated.

Ignoring his sister, Jacen continued, "I think it may have something to do with my mental attack; when Jaina knocked him out, the attack I tried to give was able to invade his mind. I'm surprised all it takes is unconsciousness to at least temporarily stop a Force-entity like Abeloth from taking control of a Jedi Knight."

"Wouldn't your attack have been nullified when Abeloth countered it?" Jaina asked as she and the others stepped into the opened turbolift.

"I didn't feel like it was nullified," Jacen said as the lift traveled down. "It felt prevented, like a flowing river against a dam."

"But why would a simple knockout temporarily stop Abeloth's hold over Valin, even if she were just preventing your attack against his mind?" Tahiri asked, seeming to forget her hatred for Jacen at the moment. "Surely, a powerful Force entity like her, as you described, shouldn't even be slowed by something like that."

Jacen shrugged. "Beats me."

"Now we got another question," Nommy said.

The others looked at him, but before the Yuuzhan Vong could say anymore, the turbolift door opened, and they all stepped out. "We're heading to the medbay to give Valin over to Master Cilghal and Tekli to have 'em examine him," Jaina said as they began heading down the corridor they were in, ignoring the gaping Jedi around them who were shocked to see Jacen Solo and a Yuuzhan Vong in their midst.

"You're the boss," Jacen commented neutrally.

"Anyway, what were you going to say?" Tahiri asked Nommy.

"Back aboard Admiral Darklighter's Star Destroyer, Jacen didn't even sense any of his Force-sensitive former friends or family board," Nommy explained. "That, and the fact that none of you seemed to sense when he was resurrected."

Jaina's eyes narrowed in realization as she looked back over at Nommy. "I didn't even think about that."

"Maybe the Force is having a little imbalance," Tahiri suggested. "Probably from Jacen's resurrection." Her tone was slightly accusatory, but didn't stray from her point. "Someone coming back from the dead, I doubt the Force will be all that stable for a while. That might also explain why this Abeloth took control of Valin, but no other Jedi."

"Actually, she already took control of another Jedi," Jaina answered evenly.

"What?" the others asked in unison.

"I'll explain later," Jaina said just as they arrived at the medbay, the door parting before the Jedi.

At their desk, Jedi Master Cilghal, and her former apprentice Jedk Knight Tekli, looked up from reading the papers they had and looked in surprise at their new arrivals. They both stood up and Cilghal asked, "What's going on here, Jaina?" The Mon Calamari worriedly indicated the presences of Jacen and Nommy, along with Valin's unconscious form in the resurrected human's arms.

"It's a long a story, but the point is, Master Cilghal," Jaina said, indicating Valin still asleep, "we may have another Seff Hellin on our hands."

"Oh," Cilghal and Tekli nodded in understanding.

"Who?" the others asked.

"The other Jedi Abeloth took control of," Jaina said. "Jacen, place Valin on that bed."

As Jacen went to fulfill his sister's command, Cilghal asked her, "How long has Valin been out?"

"A few minutes," Jaina answered. She looked back over to her brother. "How long 'til he wakes up?"

"I'd give him another hour and forty-five minutes or so," Jacen said as he carefully laid Valin on an empty bed. "My mental attacks can be very effective."

"If they were, why didn't you use them when you were Darth Caedus?" Nommy asked.

Jacen raised an eyebrow. "Huh. I never thought about that."

"You know, I know he was a tyrant before he died," Nommy said as he looked at both Jaina and Tahiri, "but was he also kind of an idiot?"

"Aren't all power-hungry tyrants idiots?" Jaina retorted.

"Not from what I heard about Palpatine," Nommy countered.

"Hold on, hold on," Cilghal cut in. "Jaina, I forgot to ask, how do you know Valin ended up like Seff Hellin?"

"He just turned on us," Jaina said. "It seems consistent with the report given by my parents when they were on Taris with Amelia."

"Who's Amelia?" Jacen asked.

Cilghal then turned to Jacen. "You mentioned something about a mental attack?"

"It was blocked off, but it put him to sleep just when Jaina knocked him out," Jacen said.

"Okay then, I have two more questions," Cilghal said. "One, what are you and Nom Anor doing here? And two, Jaina, how do you know that this Abeloth is responsible for this?" Like the other Jedi, Cilghal was one of the Masters who probed Jacen back aboard Darklighter's Destroyer to determine if he was telling the truth.

Jacen then went on to explain what he just discussed.


	26. Chapter 26

After leaving Valin in Cilghal's care, Jaina and Tahiri left the medbay with Jacen and Nommy to proceed for the turbolift they entered the Jedi Temple in; their next destination was now the cell-block in the lower levels.

Upon leaving the turbolift for the cell-block, the four of them stopped dead in their tracks upon seeing Luke Skywalker standing in the middle of the block, looking at them expectantly.

"Nom Anor may continue to the cell you were going to put him in, Jaina," Luke said. "Jacen is coming with me."

"Yes, Uncle Luke," Jaina nodded without hesitation as she continued to lead Nommy down to the cell she intended for him, going past Luke in the process.

"Are you considering returning to the Order, Tahiri?" Luke asked as she approached the remaining two.

"With all due respect, no, Master Skywalker," Tahiri said. "I was taken by Jacen here."

Luke narrowed his gaze at his nephew, who only looked back with a neutral expression.

"Would you care to explain yourself, Jacen?" Luke asked as he crossed his arms. His tone betrayed a hint of the animosity he still held against his nephew for killing his wife, among many other heinous acts.

"I tried saving Tahiri, Uncle Luke," Jacen explained. "As I told her, I had a vision showing me that she'll die for killing Grand Admiral Pellaeon two years ago."

Luke looked even more skeptical. "If that were the case, I'd expect Daala to have had Tahiri arrested, and maybe even dead, by now. She had two years since taking over the Galactic Alliance, why would she only do this in due time?"

Jacen shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe Daala was just trying to solidify her power base in the government and didn't want to get into any possible scandals for arresting Tahiri, since she did support me until Shedu Maad."

"You could've been a great political leader, Jacen," Luke said, a tinge of disappointment in his tone. "So much like your mother."

"No disrespect intended, Master Skywalker," Tahiri cut in, "but may I go now?"

"Uncle Luke, don't let her do that," Jacen warned with worry. "It's for the best if she stays here, as a guest, at least."

"What makes you think that the Galactic Alliance won't just arrest her here anyway, Jacen, if what you say is true?" Luke asked.

Jacen sighed. _Of course Nommy would ask that, too_, he thought. "All right, fine, she won't have to stay here, but she can't go back to her apartment either. I think it's a bad idea if she stays in the Galactic Alliance at all."

"Why should Master Skywalker listen to you?" Tahiri growled.

Luke rested a hand on her shoulder to wordlessly calm her down. "Tahiri, listen, I can arrange a ride for you back to your apartment, if you'd like," Luke said. He returned his attention briefly to Jacen to give him a short glare, silently indicating that he'd brook no further argument from his nephew about the matter.

"I'd like that, yes," Tahiri nodded just as Jaina returned from placing Nommy in his cell.

"Jaina, would you be so kind as to return Tahiri to her apartment?" Luke asked his niece.

Jaina nodded. "Of course, Uncle Luke." She then took Tahiri's hand and guided her toward the nearest turbolift to make it to the Temple's roof for the airspeeder they arrived in.

And that left Luke and Jacen, who, by the former's lead, took another nearby turbolift to make it back to the Grand Master's office. They were silent on the whole short trek there.

Once they were in the office, and they took their seats, did the talking begin.

"Let's get some things straight here, Jacen," Luke said. "I will never forgive you for any of the things you did during the last war, and I doubt anyone will either. But even after all you did, and the lies and deceit you played on all of us, I am convinced that you were returned by the Force, and that I can trust you again, even if others won't. After all, you're here now, and we all sensed your honesty back aboard that Star Destroyer. So, as hard as it is to believe this story about this Force entity named Abeloth, and as hard as it is for me to even set aside all you've done to the galaxy, it is within my duty to place my responsibilities over all else, even my own emotions and personal needs. I suppose you understand all of that."

Jacen nodded. "Perfectly."

"Now, with all that said," Luke said, "I've been noticing some... irregularities within the Force. Have you noticed any yourself?"

"As a matter of fact, I have," Jacen said. "I didn't notice any of you aboard the Star Destroyer until Nom Anor and I were in the hangar deck with the rest of you."

"As well, how we didn't sense your resurrection," Luke added. "Do you have theories about that?"

Jacen shrugged. "Tahiri suggested it may have had something to do with my resurrection; maybe me coming back to life caused these slight irregularities."

"I think what Tahiri said may only be half true," Luke said. "I think it might be this Abeloth's response to your return."

"Ah," Jacen said in realization. "Well, in that case, I think I may have a theory about that, after all."

"Please, share it."

"You remember Danni Quee, right?"

Luke nodded.

"She and Sekot brought me back. And she told me that I was brought back to defeat Abeloth, or at least help defeat her, in any case. If Abeloth is responding to my resurrection, it can only mean that she knows how much of a threat I am to her."

"Interesting theory," Luke said. "But I have a question of my own: If the Force wanted you back, why did you die in the first place?"

Jacen narrowed his eyes as he thought about the question.

_Everything I tell you is a lie_.

Jacen abruptly snapped out of his reverie and looked back at the curious Grand Master on the other side of the desk. "What's wrong?" Luke asked.

"Vergere," Jacen said. "I think your answer may have something to do with Vergere."


	27. Chapter 27

An entire platoon of police airspeeders soared through traffic lanes, their lights and sirens flashing and blaring respectively, as they headed to the Jedi Temple. In a matter of minutes, they had arrived and quickly and efficiently created a perimeter ringing the Temple, with concerned Jedi in the massive building looking out through the nearest viewports to see what was going on.

At the same time that the perimeter was set up, Luke was about to ask Jacen what he meant about Vergere being the answer to his question when a human male adult apprentice abruptly barged into the office to proclaim, "Master Skywalker, you have to check this out! The Temple's being cordoned by the police!"

Luke and Jacen were out of their seats and following the apprentice - who didn't seem to mind Jacen's presence at the moment - to the nearest viewport out in the corridor they were in, and from what they could see, there was indeed a barricade that had been set up.

"Jacen Solo and Nom Anor!" the voice of Chief Jeddak of the CSF called through a microphone. "We will give you exactly ten minutes to step out through the Jedi Temple's entryway, or else we will come in to arrest the both of you ourselves! To the Jedi inside, we have our search warrants and we will present them to you if requested. If we find that you were aiding and abetting the fugitives we are after, we have permission from Chief of State Daala to arrest everyone in the Temple, if required. Do no resist. I repeat, do no resist. Jacen Solo, Nom Anor, you have exactly nine minutes and twenty-five seconds to come out and show yourselves!"

"We can't let them take you," Luke said without looking at Jacen. "You're far too important to the galaxy."

"So then what do we do?" Jacen asked.

Luke thought about it, and in that time, Jeddak proclaimed that Jacen and Nommy had nine minutes now. After that, Luke snapped his natural fingers and said, "I have to call Daala." He then took out his commlink and began inputting her frequency.

"What, are you gonna convince her to call off the manhunt for Nom Anor and I?" Jacen asked.

"Kind of," Luke said after he input the frequency and made the call.

Not long after - about eight minutes and thirty seconds now - Daala's voice came through. "Hello?"

"Chief Daala, this is Luke Skywalker."

"What do you want, Master Skywalker?"

"I understand you want my nephew and Nom Anor, but I've just talked with him and-"

"You're deliberately aiding and abetting two fugitives?" Daala interrupted. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't just contact Chief Jeddak right now and tell him to cancel the countdown and just raid your precious Temple already?"

"Well, first, I already have Nom Anor imprisoned in one of the Temple's cells," Luke said. "Second, I was about to say that, in spite of everything he's done, Jacen is too important for you to just haul away into a prison, because this Abeloth threat, as I confirmed, is true."

"I know, and I don't care," Daala said. "You're not convincing me, Master Jedi."

Seven minutes and forty-five seconds now.

"What if I make you a deal?" Luke asked, thinking quick.

"What kind of deal?"

"What if I go into exile from Coruscant and the rest of the Galactic Alliance with my nephew and Nom Anor?" Luke asked. "We search for Abeloth, we destroy her, and then we return so you may determine Jacen's fate for yourself."

There was a long silence on the other end, so much so that Luke was worried that he lost the connection, especially now that they had less than seven and a half minutes.

"I trust that, as the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, you dare not lie to me, Master Skywalker," Daala intoned.

"You have my word that I will keep such a promise," Luke said.

"If that's the case," Daala said, "I will call off Chief Jeddak's barricade, and you have half an hour to reach my office personally. Come alone, so we may finalize the details of this bargain. If you don't come back within that half hour, I will have Jeddak and his officers return, and they won't wait around for your nephew and Nom Anor to just show themselves; they will raid your Temple on my order, is that understood?"

"It is," Luke answered.

"Know this, Skywalker," Daala said. "I'm being extremely generous here; if I didn't believe you, I wouldn't have the police pull away from your Temple." She then terminated the connection.

Roughly a minute and a half later, the police airspeeders suddenly lifted from where they landed and turned to head back to their base.

"Return to my office and stay there until I get back," Luke said to his nephew before turning to a turbolift nearby.

In a matter of moments, the Grand Master of the Jedi Order was rocketing in the lift for the Temple's roof to leave for Daala's office. Meanwhile, ignoring the indignant, and sometimes malignant stares he got from the Jedi out in this corridor, Jacen did as his uncle told him and began returning to the Grand Master's office.

But before he reached the door, the turbolift up ahead opened up, and Ben stood there, glaring back at his cousin with pure venom.

Then the teenaged redhead darted out of the lift and rushed towards Jacen, activating his lightsaber along the way with a thunderous battle cry.

With no choice but to defend himself, Jacen sent out a Force-wave to his cousin, which he dodged easily, not breaking stride in his run for Jacen. So the latter wheeled over to a Wookiee apprentice, knocked her out with a punch to the snout, grabbed her lightsaber, and spun around, activating its green blade along the way, to block Ben's strike just in time.

"I'm gonna make sure you die this time," Ben growled. He then parried away Jacen's saber and launched himself into a duel against his cousin.


	28. Chapter 28

Halfway to the Imperial Palace, where Daala's office was, Luke felt through the Force that Jacen was in danger. He reached out and probed to find that Ben was attacking him inside the Jedi Temple. Luke extended his reach to try to commune to Ben to lay off against his cousin, but the Grand Master's son was too distracted by his own anger and hatred of Jacen that Luke was seriously concerned that his own offspring was now slipping to the dark side of the Force.

Looking to his wrist chrono, Luke found that he had only twenty minutes to see Daala before she decided to send the police back to invade the Temple. Quickly doing the math in his head, Luke knew that he didn't have the time to go back and break up whatever was going on. Hence, after setting the airspeeder on autopilot, he took out his personal commlink and typed in Kenth Hamner's frequency; he knew that, if he tried contacting Ben that way to try and tell him to cease his attack, it would be pointless, and a greater waste of time.

After Kenth answered his call, Luke asked, "Master Hamner, my son is trying to kill my nephew. Stop Ben, but don't hurt or kill him. And if you have to, lock him up in one of the Temple's cells."

"Understood, Grand Master Skywalker," Kenth replied with militant curtness. Luke appreciated that the former New Republic soldier didn't ask him where he was or what he was doing now; he knew it would be hard once he broke the news of what he was about to do with Daala once it was said and done. "Will that be all?"

"Yes, yes, now go and stop my son before he kills Jacen," Luke said. before abruptly terminating the connection. He then shut off the airspeeder's autopilot and resumed course for Daala's office at top speed.

.

Even as he was fighting for his own life, Jacen still wasn't surprised to find that the other Jedi around him were beginning to aid Ben against him. That coerced Jacen to sometimes break away from his hateful cousin to knock out the less-experienced Jedi with well-placed blows while avoiding the likes of the Knights in this corridor.

It was only halfway through the duel, a couple minutes in, that Jacen realized that he could have just used one of his abilities to destroy Ben's lightsaber and knock him out, like he did with Tahiri. But given the other Jedi around him, he realized he'd need a lightsaber from one of the other Jedi to deal with Ben.

By the time the duel between Jacen and Ben was winding down, the corridor was strewn about with unconscious bodies of both apprentices and Knights alike, the latter of whom Jacen managed to knock out with some lucky hits and kicks with his free fist and legs respectively. Yet Ben was still up because his rage and hatred against Jacen were what kept him from simply being knocked out in the duel.

The fight soon came to a close once Master Kenth Hamner, having arrived in the corridor inconspicuously from behind Ben, activated his lightsaber. Jacen took advantage of the resultant distraction to Ben to break off and leap backward as his cousin whirled around to block off Hamner's intentionally-timed strike.

The two of them held that stance as they stared back at each other - Ben with shock that the Master would aid his hated cousin, and Hamner with his ever-serene Jedi calm - for a few seconds before Ben's eyes fluttered shut. He then dropped to the floor, lightsaber deactivating in his weakening grip until it dropped to the floor, with Jacen catching his cousin in the fold of his arms along the way.

"Impressive trick you have on your cousin, Jacen," Hamner commented as Jacen lifted the unconscious Ben up and away from the floor.

"Thank you, Master Hamner," Jacen acknowledged. "I'm rather surprised to see you help me out like that though."

"You can thank your uncle for that," Hamner said. "He told me about what was going on, and informed me that Jedi Skywalker would attack you, no doubt in retribution for what you did to his mother three years ago."

Jacen remained stoic and silent at that; he only nodded to back up his gratefulness to Hamner for helping to stop Ben.

"Anyway, your uncle told me that we can hold Ben in one of the Temple's cells, if necessary," Hamner said. "I find it necessary, personally, considering that your cousin would no doubt try to kill you again once he wakes up. What about you?"

"Honestly?" Jacen looked back to his cousin for a moment before looking back up to Hamner. "I think it's a good idea, too."

Hamner nodded. "Then let's take him down." He turned and led Jacen over to one of the turbolifts that would take them to the cell block a few levels down.

.

About an hour later, Ben awoke with a start, and the first thing he noticed, even before he gathered where he was right now, was that he didn't have the Force. That point became clear once he finally did take note of his surroundings, sitting up from the cot he slept on to find that he was in one of the Jedi Temple's holding cells. He knew that somewhere, just outside this room, an ysalamari was projecting a Force-repressing bubble, keeping him from using his powers.

Ben, after standing up from the cot, couldn't help but throw his arms up in the air and roar in anger and frustration.

"Hey, can you keep it down over there?"

That came from a guttural voice, emanating from outside Ben's cell and sounding like it came from somewhere off to the right relative to where Ben was imprisoned.

"Who said that?!" Ben growled after he pressed himself up against his cell's door.

"Someone who wants some peace and quiet, even if it is boring and doesn't pass the time," the voice replied. "It's certainly a lot more bearable than your whining."

"IF YOU HAD KNOWN WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH-" Ben shouted.

"Oh, shut up and keep it to yourself, you little bitch," the voice replied. "Unless you're missing any body parts, against your will, that is, or if you slept with the wrong hooker, I don't see what you've got to complain about."

Ben opened his mouth to respond, but only shook his head in defeat, walked back to the cot, and collapsed back into it in despair.

From elsewhere in the block, the owner of the voice, Nom Anor, waited for the screaming individual's response. Satisfied that none would come, he relaxed back against his cot, content just for the peace and quiet, even if it wasn't conductive to freedom.


	29. Chapter 29

The next day, Ben awoke again in his cell from the sound of his door opening. He looked up to find his father standing at the open exit, facing him.

Ben then stood up and regarded Luke angrily. "Dad, did you know I was imprisoned here last night?"

Luke nodded. "As a matter of fact, I ordered it."

Ben looked shocked. "What?! Why did you do that?"

"Because you were trying to kill Jacen," Luke said. "Something that none of us could afford right now."

"But he killed Mom!" Ben insisted. "Among many other things! I still don't understand how you can possibly-"

"Ben," Luke cut off. "Listen to me. I just came back from court to finalize the deal between Daala and I."

"What deal?" Ben asked. "And why did it have to be court?"

"If you would be quiet, I'll explain," Luke said.

Sighing, Ben nodded silently for his father to continue.

"Whether or not you like Jacen, Ben, is irrelevant now. You have to set aside the past if we're to live for the present and future. Now, in order to keep Daala from getting her hands on Jacen, and, by extension, Nom Anor, I told her that if we were to find and defeat this Force entity known as Abeloth, then she'll drop all charges against both Jacen and Nom Anor."

"Nom Anor. The Yuuzhan Vong who came with Jacen?" Ben asked.

Luke nodded. "Yes, the very same."

"Isn't he the same Vong who gave Mom that virus years ago that nearly killed me and her before I was even born?"

"Again, the very same."

Ben growled. "Great. Now, not only are you standing up for the man who killed Mom, you're standing up for the Vong who nearly killed Mom before I was born. What's next, if Palpatine came back from the dead again because the Force willed it, you're gonna protect him from getting tomatoes thrown at him by the public?"

"If that's what the Force wants," Luke replied flippantly with a raised eyebrow.

Ben sighed in defeat. "Well, thanks for telling me this before you set off on your journey. I sure hope neither Jacen or that Vong get spacesick and vomit out the airlock." He moved to sit back on the cot.

"I'm giving you the option to come with us, Ben," Luke said without anymore preamble.

Ben stopped from sitting himself back on the cot and stood up straight again. "What?"

"I know it's risky taking you along, especially since you might just kill the both of them," Luke admitted. "And quite frankly, I don't see why you should come along other than for this reason; I think you should talk to Jacen while we're on this journey, so you can trust him again."

"Why should I do that?" Ben asked.

"Because I sense much hatred from you, directed at Jacen," Luke said. "When Caedus died, I sensed that, while you still hated Jacen, I knew that you wouldn't let it consume you. But now that Jacen's back, and given what you just tried to do to him, I think that you need to truly purge your hatred of your cousin once and for all; or else, you may fall as he did."

Ben tilted his head. "And how can you trust me not to kill Jacen or Nom Anor?"

"Because, if you give in to your hate, Ben," Luke said, "Caedus will have won."

Ben remained silent and stoic for several moments. He then looked to the floor and sighed before looking back up at his father. "Then I'll come with you. And I promise I won't kill Jacen or Nom Anor; especially not Jacen."

Luke hesitated, still sensing the simmering hatred beneath Ben's pseudo-calm veneer, but nodded. "Good to know. Now, if you'll come with me, we have until nightfall to leave Coruscant, which will be..." He looked at his wrist chrono. "An hour."

Ben then walked over to Luke and looked outside, stopping dead in his tracks once he saw Jacen and Nom Anor.

"Thanks for coming, Ben," Jacen said in a genuinely solemn tone.

Ignoring his cousin, Ben looked at Nommy. "Let me guess; you're the idiot who told me to shut up last night."

The Yuuzhan Vong shrugged. "I needed the rest."

Ben rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Can I hit him, Dad?"

"I don't think a punch in the gut would be fatal," Luke admitted.

"Good," Ben said. Then he smacked his fist into Jacen's midriff, causing him to double over in pain.

"Okay," Jacen wheezed. "I admit, that was a good bait-and-switch."

"Why does it have to be just that?" Ben retorted. Then he punched Nommy in the gut, too.

"Alright, come on, all three of you," Luke said as he and Ben began walking down the corridor to a nearby turbolift, slowing only to allow the pained Jacen and Nommy to follow along.

A few minutes later, the four of them were on the roof of the Jedi Temple, where they were surrounded by dozens of Jedi, including all of the Masters and several Knights and apprentices. They all said their goodbyes to Luke and Ben systematically over the period of ten minutes, ignoring Jacen and Nommy entirely; not even Han and Leia, who were also attending, wanted to speak with Jacen.

Allana, though, tried to break away from her grandparents to speak with her father, only to get held back by Leia's hand. The little girl looked back up to her grandmother with pleading eyes, but the older woman shook her head, wordlessly indicating that she couldn't risk exposing her true identity out to the public like this, even in a crowd of only Jedi.

Of course, Allana thought, that was only an excuse so that she could stay away from her father. But it was an excuse she couldn't defy.

Once all the pleasantries were done and the goodbyes were said, Luke, Ben, Jacen, and Nommy boarded the _Jade Shadow_, which had been parked there for this special occasion by Master Corran Horn, and a few minutes later, they took off for the sky of the galactic capital.


	30. Chapter 30

Once the _Jade Shadow_ was in the space around Coruscant, Luke, seated in the ship's pilot seat, looked over to the copilot seat where Jacen was. "So, where to?" the Grand Master asked.

"Straight for the Maw," Jacen answered. "I can sense her there right now."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Really? How can you sense her, but I can't?"

Jacen shrugged. "Maybe the Force gave me extra special powers after I came back from the dead."

"Then let's hope it has," Luke replied as he laid in a course for the Maw. "Because, from the sound of her, she sounds powerful." He then punched the _Shadow_ into hyperspace.

"Now that we have that sorted out," Luke said as he stood up from his seat, "shall we..." He indicated himself and Ben, who sat in the nav chair. "...escort you two to your guest cabin?" The question was directed at Jacen and Nommy, the latter who sat in the spare seat behind the pilot seat, where Ben could attack Nommy should the Yuuzhan Vong accost Luke in any way.

A little while later, the _Shadow_'s guest cabin door opened up, and Jacen and Nommy were herded in by Luke. Ben stayed behind his father, more for his father's wishes, which he expressed through their bond in the Force, than for his own in staying away from Jacen.

"Nice place," Nommy commented as he and Jacen looked around their temporary quarters. "Too bad we only have one bed." He nodded his head over to where a guest could sleep.

"My wife was always for the bare minimum," Luke replied. "While she knew that there'd probably be more than one guest at any particular time, she figured only one bed. Anymore guests could share it." His tone belayed any resentment he had with either Jacen or Nommy, given their respective pasts with Mara.

Neither non-Skywalker, who had their backs to Luke and Ben at the moment, replied at the mention of Luke's late wife; they knew it would only stir hard feelings.

"Well, thanks, Uncle Luke," Jacen said after he and Nommy turned back to regard the Grand Master. "Nommy and I can make due with what we have; which is still good, don't get me wrong."

"I certainly hope you aren't," Luke said, slightly bitter. "The kitchen is down the hall to your left. You have your own refresher, and I'm sure you can find it yourselves. You're invited to dinner, by the way, if either of you would care to join Ben and I."

Ben couldn't help but catch Jacen and Nommy's attention by glaring hatefully at them, making it all too clear that he didn't even want to see them at dinner tonight.

"Nommy and I would love to come, Uncle Luke," Jacen said before the Yuuzhan Vong could speak for himself.

The one-eyed alien, in turn, looked at Jacen in shock, but his human counterpart only gave him a silent glare, telling him not to argue with him right now.

While it was clear to anyone, especially Luke, what that brief exchange signified, the Grand Master nodded at Jacen's response. "Very well. It will be at twenty hundred hours sharp. We'll see you then." He turned and led a glaring Ben out of the cabin, and Jacen and Nommy let out the breaths neither of them knew they were holding as soon as the door closed behind the Skywalkers.

"Why did you invite us?" Nommy asked.

"Hey, let's face it, Nommy, by avoiding them this whole trip, we do nothing but make things worse," Jacen argued. "We have to establish trust and make them more comfortable around us, because, at best, Uncle Luke is tolerant of both our presences and he's got Ben on his leash not to kill us."

"All the more reason we shouldn't just get our own food before their own dinner so we can eat away from them!" Nommy countered. "You know it as well as I do that no one is ever gonna forgive me for what I did during my peoples' invasion against your galaxy, never mind what you've done to this galaxy!"

Jacen grabbed Nommy's shoulders. "We have to try," he insisted.

"Kriff you," Nommy responded as he shrugged Jacen's hands off. "You could've invited yourself and left me out of this entirely."

"I think you forgot why I brought you along in the first place," Jacen said. "This isn't just me redeeming myself; it's you representing your whole people to the galaxy. And so far, I don't see you doing much of a good job."

"Well, can you really blame me? That kid certainly isn't makin' things any easier!"

"Well, can you really blame _him_?" Jacen retorted. "We both kriffed with his mom on some level. Me more than you, obviously, and especially since I personally scarred him, but that's beside the point. The point is, even if we never do earn their trust, to just back out of this entirely is the epitome of cowardice, something you seem to be a professional in."

"Oh, yeah, a call to my cowardice, like I've never heard that before," Nommy replied sarcastically.

"Gee, I wonder why," Jacen countered. "What sickens me even more is that you're not giving yourself even a crappy excuse for your actions if you're not going to renounce your old ways entirely. I can't believe you're so cavalier about your own pathetic cowardice!"

"I accept that I'm a horrible person, others accepted that I'm horrible, just as they do you, but you honestly think that you could actually redeem yourself of what you did? Face it, Solo, the galaxy devolved into self-delusional low-lives after the New Republic came along, and they won't accept redemption anymore, because they don't understand why others will fall but never come back up. You're fighting for a lost cause that's better off with Abeloth destroying this entire galaxy!"

The two of them fell into silence for a long moment before Jacen turned and moved to leave the cabin.

"Where do you think you're going?" Nommy asked, his blood still boiling after all that.

"To the kitchen," Jacen said. "I can do without you for a little while." Then he left.


	31. Chapter 31

As soon as Jacen left the guest quarters, he looked to his right to find Ben standing there alone, regarding him with a blank expression belaying any of his feelings against his cousin. But Jacen decided to ignore him, turn the other way, and head for the _Shadow_'s kitchen.

After arriving in the kitchen, he sat down in one of the chairs, slumped there, and stared up at the ceiling with a forlorn expression. Roughly ten seconds later, he looked ahead again to find Ben standing at the exit of the kitchen, staring at him again.

"What, are you here to try to kill me again?" Jacen asked flippantly as he sat up.

Ben shook his head as he moved to take a seat across from his cousin. "Not with my dad 'holding me on a leash,' as you said," he replied as he took the opposite chair, an entire table now the only thing separating them.

"You heard all that, didn't you?"

"Dad and I could've heard all that all the way from the cockpit, if we even made it there before you broke out that argument," Ben said. "Your friend's quite the optimist, isn't he?"

"He only came along because he wanted to leave a life of nearly getting killed so many times back on Zonama Sekot," Jacen elaborated. "So I obliged him so he could act as a representative for his people. As I pointed out to him, he's clearly slacking off in that area."

Ben nodded. "You two sound like an old married couple, you know." He didn't know what else to say.

Jacen couldn't help but give a mirthless laugh before resting his elbows on the tabletop before him and propping his head up on it. "Oh, by the Force," he muttered.

A silent moment passed before Ben determined, "You slept with him, didn't you?" His tone was of disbelief.

Jacen looked up at him with a clearly shocked expression. "What makes you say that?"

"Jacen, I'm a detective, one of the few things I can thank you for in my life," Ben admitted. Those days in the Galactic Alliance Guard weren't all that bad for Ben, but given what ultimately happened, he felt there could have been a _lot_ of room for improvement; Jacen not turning to the dark side of the Force in the first place would have definitely been on the top of the list. "Not only with the way you spoke to him, but also your response to my comment about you sounding like a couple, as well as your all-too obvious reaction to my conclusion."

Jacen sighed, letting his arms drop to the tabletop entirely and allowing his head to hang before looking back up at his cousin. "Okay, but in my defense, we were both high on a drug called marijuana, and we had a woman with us. A _human_ woman, by the way."

Ben's eyebrows raised. "You had a threesome?"

Jacen grimaced. "A foursome."

"Another Yuuzhan Vong man?"

"Yes." His tone was rather shameful.

"Was this human woman hot, at least?" Ben asked.

Jacen smirked in spite of himself. "Good ol' Ben. Even when he's talking to the cousin he hates who killed his mother, you're still thinkin' about girls."

Ben displayed a small smile, even though he was still wary of his cousin.

"Oh, and by the way, that human woman who was in the foursome, she was hot," Jacen told him. "Kinda looks like a slightly older version of Tahiri, come to think of it."

"Ah," Ben said with widened eyes and a slow nod.

"What?" Jacen asked.

"Oh, nothing," Ben replied, shaking his head.

"You know, for a detective, you're quite obvious for yourself," Jacen said. After a moment's pause, he leaned in and asked, in a joking manner, "Did you sleep with Tahiri?"

"We didn't go that far," Ben said, his tone just as flippant. "She..." He trailed off with a sigh.

"She what?"

"When she captured me on Coruscant near the end of the war," Ben explained, "she kinda... played around with me in my holding cell while I only had my underwear on."

"No sex?" Jacen inquired.

Ben shook his head. "She just tried to tease information out of me about where the Jedi Coalition was hiding. She almost molested me, but it didn't even go that far."

Jacen said nothing; they both knew that Tahiri was sexually teasing Ben for Caedus at the time. Ben didn't need anymore of a reminder than that.

"You know, your Vong friend is definitely right, Jacen, about one thing at least," Ben said. "The galaxy will never forgive either of you for what you've both done. But he's wrong about the galaxy not allowing anyone a shot at redemption; I redeemed Tahiri, after all. You were too far gone to be saved by anyone."

Jacen remembered that rant he gave to Jaina before she brought him and Nommy over to the Jedi Temple the other day. "Because Tahiri never killed anyone you loved?"

"She killed Lon Shevu before me," Ben said. "And I still saw a chance of redemption in her. I saw regret in her eyes when she did it. I never saw regret in anything you did, from when you killed Ailyn Vel to when you tried to burn Kashyyyk."

Jacen looked forlorn again. "I did what I thought I had to."

"Is that all you have to excuse yourself?" Ben retorted. "Seem a bit flimsy to me."

"I saw the galaxy in darkness, Ben," Jacen said. "I saw it ruled by a dark man on a throne."

Ben rolled his eyes. "And how could you be so sure it wasn't _you_ on that throne?"

"Because of who I saw next to him," Jacen answered.

"Who?"

"Allana."

"Your daughter," Ben said as he sat back and crossed his arms. "What about her?"

"I would've never let her fall to the dark side," Jacen said. "And by the end of the war, before I died, I saw her sitting on the throne, bringing light to the galaxy."

"You think you sacrificed yourself for the greater good, huh?" Ben concluded.

"For better or worse," Jacen said.

Ben said nothing more as he stood up and left the kitchen, leaving Jacen alone.


	32. Chapter 32

Newly-appointed acting Jedi Grand Master Kenth Hamner walked into the Temple's psychiatric ward to find Master Cilghal and Jedi Tekli at computer terminals observing some moving charts on the datascreens there. In between them, and ten meters away from their positions, was the unconscious form of Valin Horn, laying on a cot and caged off in a glass cell that had one narrow slit at waist height to allow oxygen into his prison. Projecting from the undersides of his bed were two cables with a suction cup each at the ends stuck to Valin's temples. And just behind the cell was an ysalamar situated on a simulated Olbio tree, projecting a Force-rappelling bubble that Cilghal and Tekli were just outside of.

The medical specialists of the Order turned in their seats to regard Hamner, and as he started his approach for them, he asked, "What have you got on Jedi Horn so far, Master Cilghal?"

The Mon Calamari and her former apprentice turned back to their terminals, and Cilghal said, "An interesting read on his brainwaves, Master Hamner."

"How so?" Hamner asked as soon as he joined the Mon Cal.

"You see all these fluctuations?" Cilghal asked as she pointed at the screen before her and the one that Tekli was observing. Hamner noted that in both screens, the waves representing the internal actions of Valin's mind were spiking and dropping at erratic, seemingly random patterns that made no sense. "This has only been observed in one other Jedi."

"Which one?"

Cilghal looked directly at Hamner. "Jacen Solo."

The acting Grand Master crossed his arms across his chest. "Explain."

"Around the time of the Qoribu crisis with the Killiks," Cilghal elaborated, "Solo was one of the Jedi Knights aiding in the effort against the Chiss who I scanned brainwaves for. While pretty much all of the other Knights had roughly the same brainwaves equivalent to that of a hive mind, Solo had been using one of the tricks he learned on that spiritual sojourn he took after the Yuuzhan Vong War."

"He'd been deliberately scrambling the scanner checking his mind at the time," Hamner concluded.

"Indeed," Cilghal confirmed. "He was showing off on how pointless it was to scan for him."

"It seems that the seeds of darkness were implanted in Solo's mind even then," Hamner remarked. "Arrogance is a powerful tool for a Sith." He got back to the subject at hand. "Do you and Tekli think that Valin is doing the same thing here?"

Cilghal shook her head. "Unlikely. Solo was conscious during the effort. Given that Jedi Horn is currently sedated, and will continue to be unconscious for another half hour or so, we don't think he's the one doing this to our brainwave scanners."

"It's most likely Abeloth's doing then," Hamner figured. "Still, it is interesting that, if this is her doing, she would be employing a tactic exactly the same as the one Solo used during the Killik crisis. I doubt this is a coincidence."

"A connection between Solo and Abeloth he didn't tell us about?" Cilghal inquired.

"Hopefully, Grand Master Skywalker will make him fill in any blanks he left out," Hamner said. "Thank you for sharing this with me, Master Cilghal." He turned and left the psychiatric ward.

.

After Luke made the routine drop out of hyperspace to have the _Jade Shadow_ avoid colliding with the star in the system he ended up in, he found that his comm console indicator blinked red for his attention. He pressed it to find one message from Kenth Hamner, so he called him back.

After Hamner replied, Luke asked, "Hello, Kenth. What is it that you wished to speak to me about back on Coruscant?"

"Do you mind if you bring your nephew in on this, Master Skywalker?" Hamner asked.

Luke's eyes narrowed in worry. "No, not at all. Wait a minute." He got up from the pilot seat to head for the guest cabin, where he left Jacen and Nom Anor. He knocked on it upon arrival. "Jacen?"

"Check the kitchen," Nom Anor's dour tone returned. "He's not here."

Not saying anymore, Luke headed to the kitchen to find Jacen's head slumped against the table there; he sensed that his nephew was asleep, so he reached out with the Force to gently probe him awake. Jacen lifted his head groggily back up, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"I need you in the cockpit," Luke said without preamble.

Jacen nodded and got up out of his seat to follow his uncle back to the pilot station. There, he slumped down in the copilot seat a little after Luke seated himself back down in the pilot's chair.

"You still there, Kenth?" Luke asked.

"Yes, Master Skywalker," Hamner's voice returned obediently. "Is your nephew there?"

"I'm here," Jacen answered for himself. "What'd you wanna speak to me about, Master Hamner?"

"Don't lie to me about this one, Solo," Hamner said in a tone that was slightly harsh. "Is there any connection between you and this Abeloth that we don't know about or that you neglected to tell us?"

Jacen looked questioningly at Luke for a moment before returning his attention back to the comm. "Well, no," Jacen answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Because Master Cilghal just showed me something very interesting just an hour ago," Hamner said. He then told Luke and Jacen about Valin's unusual brainwave readings. "Sound familiar, Jacen?" he asked when he concluded.

"Yeah, I used that back during the Killik crisis," Jacen admitted nonchalantly. Then his eyes widened. "Wait, are you saying there's some connection between me and what happened to Valin?"

"You get a gold star," Hamner retorted. "Now, while the trust of the entire galaxy on you is, at best, tenuous, I have no choice but to trust you on your word that when you probed Valin's mind when he attacked your sister, you sensed Abeloth, right?"

"That's right," Jacen answered.

"So it's likely that Abeloth is giving these odd brainwave readings, as Valin is unconscious," Hamner continued. "Now, again, are you _sure_ there isn't anything you want to tell us, Solo?"

"None off the top of my he..." He trailed off as his eyes widened in remembrance. "Actually, there is something I just remembered."

"Mm-hmm, something you just remembered," Hamner replied sarcastically.

"Kenth," Luke intoned.

"My apologies, Master Skywalker," Hamner said. "Continue, Jacen."

"While I was on my sojourn after the Yuuzhan Vong War, I was with this Force sect called the Mind Walkers," Jacen explained. "They undergo this process, which they call entering beyond shadows, so that they can become part of the Force completely."

"It sounds like they were literally wasting away their lives to me," Hamner commented. "I don't find it surprising that you didn't stop them."

Ignoring Hamner's last remark, Jacen went on. "While I was beyond shadows, merely to expand my view of the Force, I had entered this area, I forgot what it was called, but when I entered this area, I sensed this great dark presence lurking, which, now that I think about it, could have been Abeloth. It was at that point that I realized I had to leave the Mind Walkers."

"Where are these Mind Walkers?" Hamner asked.

"In the Maw," Jacen answered.

"Which was where we were already going in our journey for Abeloth," Luke clarified for Hamner. He looked over at Jacen. "You didn't mention these Mind Walkers before."

"I honestly just forgot about them," Jacen shrugged. "To me, they were just another Force sect I learned a little bit about in my sojourn."

"I see," Luke replied suspiciously.

Jacen sighed. "Uncle Luke, I get it. You still don't trust me completely. But I swear, as a changed man, I really didn't connect the dots between Abeloth and the Mind Walkers until just now."

"Very strange that you were already heading into the Maw anyway," Hamner commented.

"I know," Jacen said, defeated.

"Well, let's assume that you are telling the truth, Jacen," Luke said. "Now that we have a connection to link Abeloth and these Mind Walkers, do you think that if we travel to wherever the latter are, we can locate Abeloth beyond shadows?"

"Or, if you are confident in your partial trust with your nephew, Master Skywalker," Hamner interjected, "you could simply ask him to lead you beyond shadows himself."

"I wish I could, as it would definitely make things a lot easier," Jacen commented, "but I haven't used Mind Walking in years. I'm not sure if I could do it again."

"You forgot about the technique just as you forgot about the Mind Walkers themselves," Luke commented.

Jacen nodded, disappointed in himself. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You taught me better than that."

Luke sighed. "Can you at least point us in the general direction of where the Mind Walkers are?"

"Well, that, I think I can remember," Jacen said.

A little bit later, after Luke and Jacen said farewell to Hamner, the _Jade Shadow_ returned to hyperspace, continuing its course for the Maw, but with more of a purpose.


	33. Chapter 33

It would be a two-day trip from where they just spoke to Hamner via commlink to the Maw, so Jacen decided to try to kill some of that time at the beginning by attempting to reconcile with Nommy. He knocked on the door of what was technically their shared cabin, but since Jacen left due to their disagreements, it was pretty much the Yuuzhan Vong's sole place of residency aboard the _Jade Shadow_.

The door slid up and open to reveal a stoic-looking Nommy standing on the other side. "What do you want?" the Yuuzhan Vong asked tersely.

"To patch things up," Jacen answered solemnly. "You interested?"

Nommy was silent for a moment, his expression unchanging, but he stepped out of the way and waved Jacen in. The human walked inside, the door behind him closing as he and Nommy turned to each other.

The human cleared his throat. "I guess I should start by apologizing."

Nommy nodded for him to go on.

"I'm sorry I called you a coward," Jacen said.

Nommy snorted. "Is that all?"

Jacen sighed, fearing this would just devolve into more arguing between them. "You have anymore?" he asked wearily.

The Yuuzhan Vong opened his mouth to speak, only to fall silent once he realized that Jacen had nothing more to apologize for. "Alright, I'll go next. I'm sorry I said the galaxy would be better off if Abeloth destroyed it and killed every living sentient being here."

"I think that covers it," Jacen said expertly. "So, wanna have dinner with the Skywalkers and me?"

"I have no choice in the matter, do I?" Nommy asked.

"No, you don't," Jacen answered. "And I know this seems kinda imprisoning now, but hey, this is for your own good to get the rest of your people to earn the Force." After he turned away to leave the cabin, however, Jacen couldn't help but wince to himself at how that sounded; it made him sound like a fraction of the despot he was when he ruled the Galactic Alliance. He only hoped that Nommy didn't call him out on it later down the line.

But the Yuuzhan Vong didn't say a thing as he followed his human counterpart to the _Shadow_'s kitchen. There, Luke and Ben were just setting the food on the table on all four sides, where each person would sit. Luke, having set the bowls of steaming food down for himself and his son, looked up to acknowledge Jacen and Nommy's arrival with a courteous nod while Ben, obviously reluctant as he laid down the bowls for the guests, avoided eye contact entirely throughout the whole proceeding. Luke didn't appear to notice his son's minor discrepancy, but it was obvious that even if he did - which was most likely anyway - he wouldn't chastise Ben; he understood that he had a long way to go to give more than token tolerance to Jacen alone.

Dinner started off as quiet, the awkward silence punctuated only by the soft sounds of the chewing noises made by the closed mouths of each man at the table. They were all, at best, hesitant to say something - such as Jacen - or, at worst, downright unwilling to say anything - such as Ben.

But, eventually, after several minutes had gone by, Luke swallowed the most recent chunk of food that he had in his mouth and looked at Nommy. "So, Nom Anor, I trust that you find your quarters aboard the _Shadow_ comfortable enough?" Even with his calm and level tone, there was obvious tension between him and Nommy was due to the fact that the Yuuzhan Vong had personally poisoned his wife with that coomb spore virus nearly a year before his species began their invasion of the galaxy.

Nommy nodded as he continued to chew on the food still in his mouth. After he swallowed a few seconds later, he was able to back up his simple perfunctory nod. "They're very accommodating, Master Skywalker," he replied rather awkwardly.

Luke nodded. "Do you mind telling us what you've been doing on Zonama Sekot since you were brought there four years ago?"

"I have been in the business of distributing a medicinal compound thought by my customers to relieve the tensions of living where they can no longer embrace their old ways," Nom Anor answered. "I have been moderately successful in terms of finances. And my success, believe it or not, was actually one of the reasons why there have been significantly fewer attempts on my life by those who had embraced those old ways than there should be."

"Sounds like you've been quite the productive member of your society," Luke said.

"My customers would certainly agree with your sentiments, Master Skywalker," Nommy replied.

"What is the name of this medicinal compound, by the way?" Luke asked.

"Marijuana."

"Are there any possible life-threatening side effects with this marijuana?"

"Nothing life-threatening. A common occurrence to regular marijuana users is that they may eat more than they would normally; and with odd combinations, too. I'd even go so far as to say bizarre."

"Have you ever had some of this marijuana yourself?" Luke inquired.

"I have," Nommy nodded.

Luke looked at Jacen. "And did you, Jacen?"

Jacen nodded. Then a wicked smile crossed his face as he glanced over at Nommy, which prompted the Yuuzhan Vong to glare back with a warning look. Luke was curious to the nonverbal exchange between his nephew and their alien guest, but it was cut off when he noticed a knowing smirk on Ben as he also observed Nommy.

That smirk died off on Ben's face when the Yuuzhan Vong looked at him with minor shock. Then he traded looks with Jacen. "You told him, didn't you?"

Jacen made an apologetic expression. "Sorry, it just kinda slipped out."

Nommy groaned as he placed his elbows on the tabletop between his bowl and rested his head in his palms while Ben broke out into outright laughter. Jacen himself couldn't help but smile at his cousin's happiness even as Luke was left utterly confused as to what was going on.

"What's so funny, Ben?"

"Sh-should I tell him?" Ben asked Jacen in between his giggling.

At that point, it didn't seem to occur to anyone the simmering resentment, at least, that he held against his cousin.

"Go right ahead," Jacen waved.

"I'm out of here," Nommy said before Ben could begin, abruptly standing up from his seat and heading out of the kitchen back for the guest quarters.

"Oh, c'mon, Nommy, don't be such a sourpuss!" Jacen called out. "Let me tell ya, Danni was the sourpuss that night, if you get my meaning!" His declaration was punctuated by Ben's continued laughter.

"What are you talking about, Jacen?" Luke asked, his confusion now mixed with interest.

"Ben, you tell him," Jacen offered.

"Okay, okay," Ben said before bursting into another fit of laughter, so much that tears came out of his eyes as he looked at his cousin again. "How could you do something so stupid, even under drugs?"

"Hey, all it takes is one hot chick, and I'll do about a dozen Killiks in the same room if I have to," Jacen said.

Luke's face was set. "You two were involved in an orgy, weren't you?"

Both Jacen and Ben nodded wordlessly, smiles plastered on their face.

Luke, his expression now neutrally set, pushed his bowl ahead of him and stood up with graciousness. "Well, my appetite has been put off for the rest of the night," he said. "'Til tomorrow, the two of you." He left without another word.

Out in the corridor, however, it only occurred to Luke that Jacen was now winning Ben over not with dark influence, but with warmth and humor; just as he should have all those years ago.


	34. Chapter 34

For Seff Hellin, when you knew that you were living in a galaxy full of imposters, you tended to forgo attempts at hiding and subtlety after a while and simply resort to the simplest and most straightforward method, even if it was practically suicidal. And that was this: walking into the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, run by all of these doubles masquerading as the people they replaced, and headed for the Temple's psychiatric ward, even as several of those doubles throughout the corridor recognized him as a wanted fugitive.

Even if he was living in a galaxy full of replacements, he figured that those replacements should be thanking him, not condemning him, for murdering those lowly pieces of thuggish scum on Taris all those weeks ago, back when the doubles of the Solos were attending that pet show. If it weren't for the distorted morality of the Galactic Alliance justice system, he'd virtually have no problem at this point rescuing the only other person in the galaxy he knew wasn't an imposter, aside from himself: Valin Horn.

Yes, it made no sense that he was just waltzing into the Jedi Temple to rescue Valin without a plan of escape. But in a galaxy full of copycats, nothing much made sense to Seff Hellin anymore, other than what was right and what was wrong.

So it was no wonder when Seff, upon being spotted by a female human Jedi Knight he was just passing in one of the Temple's corridors, called him out and called for a few nearby colleagues to accost and capture him. Hence, he had no other choice but to break into a full-on sprint for the turbolift ahead of him. He hurriedly pushed past a few Knights and apprentices in his way who barely had the chance to react to that female Jedi's call for his capture. Once they did start to react, they became more aggressive in their attempts at detaining him, all of them trying to come in his way, tackle him, and even outright attack him with fists and booted feet.

All of which Seff managed to barely avoid by jumping, dodging, swerving, and weaving around his opponents until he finally reached the closed doors of the turbolift. He didn't bother pushing the button that would open the doors, as it would undoubtedly take too long, so he took out and ignited his lightsaber to slash at the doors before using the Force to blow them into the elevator shaft. He then made a brief stop at the ledge of the lift entrance to look up and down to see where the elevator was, and found that it was plummeting down from above.

Without anymore hesitation, and just before any of the Jedi now behind him could tackle him or something like that, Seff jumped in, using his lightsaber to cut at the incoming bottom of the turbolift rocketing down for him now. The sizzling blade slashed clean through, allowing Seff's form to pass harmlessly through the speeding lift, which was empty in the spare nanosecond he had in the interior, before his saber also inadvertently cut through the ceiling so that he was now falling at a slower rate above the turbolift now below him.

But then, as if he were a character in an old-fashioned holotoon, he began using the Force to catch up to the turbolift below him after flipping his body downward. A few seconds later, he was through the hole in the ceiling that his lightsaber created, and he managed to land on the floor of the lift where his lightsaber didn't cut through. He looked up at the levels he had left to go before the turbolift could stop on the floor of the psychiatric ward.

Only five more. Seff silently prayed to the Force that it wouldn't abruptly stop before that when the guards watching the turbolift's vidcams - which he promptly destroyed with a quick burst of the Force - saw who was in the elevator.

Fortunately, the turbolift didn't stop before it opened out to the psychiatric ward. And Seff didn't waste a second before stepping out, seeing Valin sleeping inside one of the ward's glass cages at the far end of the immense room.

Seff smiled. But then his brief feeling of victory was abruptly cut short when he felt the presence of two imposters nearby. He quickly unhooked and activated his lightsaber from his belt and began looking around for the imposters, who he figured would most likely be of Master Cilghal and Jedi Tekli.

"Where are you?" he called out, his voice echoing in the otherwise silent psychiatric ward. His shout didn't even wake up the sole patient, or rather prisoner, as Seff knew, in the room. "I can sense you! Now what have you done to Master Cilghal and Tekli?"

Before Seff knew it, however, the floor at either side of his booted feet opened up into compartments to reveal half a dozen artificially-placed holes on each side. Each of the holes began spraying out a green gas that quickly enveloped Seff before he could do anything about it with his abilities.

By the time that the gas cleared a few seconds later, Seff was laying unconscious on the floor, and from out of nowhere, it seemed, Cilghal and Tekli manifested before the knocked-out Jedi. They regarded his body for a few moments before looking back up at each other and wordlessly nodding in unison. They then bent down to pick him up and promptly carry him over to one of the empty glass cells in the ward, though they picked the farthest one from Valin via the latter's left.

"That was a good idea, Tekli," Cilghal said as she and the Chadra-Fan struggled to carry Seff's unconscious form to that cell. "Installing those gas vents was incredibly simple, but incredibly effective."

"Thank you, Master Cilghal," Tekli replied. "I figured that would be the best course to capture Seff." By now, the two women reached the cell they intended to place their unconscious male counterpart inside, and carried him inside to lay him down on the cot there. "After all, considering they were pretty much going through the same thing, I had a thought that Seff might want to come save the only other person who had the same affliction."

"Only other person so far," Cilghal said gravely as she closed the door behind them, locking Seff inside after they left.


	35. Chapter 35

Dropping out of hyperspace for what felt like the thousandth time in the Maw, Luke finally allowed himself to slump back in the pilot seat as he looked out the forward viewport at the station only a few lightyears away.

"There it is, Uncle Luke," Jacen said from the copilot seat. "Sinkhole Station."

Luke raised an eyebrow as he regarded the station from his slump. "It kind of looks like a scaled-down version of Centerpoint Station."

"That's the first thing I thought when I saw this thing for the first time," Jacen agreed. "Say, do you think you can sense the presences that are probably still aboard, Uncle Luke?"

"Can you?"

Jacen shrugged. "Let's find out."

The both of them then reached out through the Force, and, indeed, they felt the presences of several beings whose life energies felt faint to the Grand Master and his resurrected nephew.

"Why are their presences so diffuse?" Luke asked.

"That's what happens when you Mind Walk," Jacen said. "It takes you beyond shadows, where the passage of time becomes fluid and almost meaningless. Every Force-sensitive aboard wants to pass beyond shadows completely, to join themselves with the Force itself."

"They're killing themselves," Luke concluded. His tone was objective, without the slightest hint of any disgust behind it.

"That's their choice," Jacen conceded.

"Well, it doesn't seem to be the choice of _every_ Force-sensitive aboard that station," Luke pointed out.

Jacen nodded. "I sense them, too," he said. "Their presences feel faded, but not faded enough. They're trying to hide by blending in."

"Who do you think they can be?"

Jacen offered another shrug. "Whoever they are, we have to approach with caution. I can sense ill will from them."

"So do I," Luke backed up. "We'll most likely be walking into an ambush."

"What do you think we should do?"

Luke looked at his nephew with a smirk. "We blend in." He then leaned back to call out, "Ben! Get Nom Anor and get down here to the cockpit on the double!"

"Got it, Dad," Ben said.

Barely a minute later, the Jedi Knight and the Yuuzhan Vong were in the cockpit, where the former took his seat in the nav chair and the latter took his position in the spare seat behind Luke. After Luke gave them a brief rundown of what he and Jacen had sensed aboard Sinkhole Station, the Grand Master said, "Now, what I need from the both of you is to use that technique to disappear in the Force. I'll be doing it, too, don't worry."

Jacen and Ben nodded, then they suppressed their presences completely alongside the Grand Master. Then the latter turned back to the _Jade Shadow_'s console and began shutting down all power to it except for life support and internal gravity, until the ship began pinwheeling toward Sinkhole on sheer inertia alone.

"Perfect aim you got this ship on, Uncle Luke," Jacen commented. "We're heading straight for the hangar bay."

In between the _Shadow_'s rolls for Sinkhole, Luke could spot that, indeed, they were heading for the station's hangar.

"But won't we crash once we enter Sinkhole's artificial gravity?" Nommy asked. "We'd probably end up dead."

"Not if the three of us use the Force to steady the ship for a safe landing," Luke said, indicating himself, his nephew, and his son. "It'll be a stretch, but I'm confident we can make it without even denting the ship's hull, never mind killing us all in a devastating crash."

"Okay, however, if you're trying to hide from these shadowy figures you can sense, who you suspect most likely have the Force," Nommy continued, "wouldn't they all be able to sense your use of it? I mean, sure, they probably think we suffered some kind of horrible accident that killed us all, what with us all free-floating toward Sinkhole, but wouldn't you render this whole exercise useless once we board and have to use the Force to land this thing even remotely safely?"

"He has a point," Jacen said. "Even if these people shifted their attention away from us, they'll still be able to sense our unified use of the Force to right this ship upon landing."

"Wait, does this ship have any escape pods?" Nommy asked.

Luke nodded. "It does. All SoroSuub yachts like this one have at least ten, including ones for guests. But you think our supposed enemies aboard the station won't see four pods headed their way?"

"It'd be a stretch to think they wouldn't pay attention to us even if they think we are dead," Ben put in. "Especially since we're still heading straight for the station's hangar bay. We'd need luck on our side if we're to go in there on escape pods and not get spotted by sensors alone."

"I don't think we need to worry about sensors," Jacen said. "The only things aboard Sinkhole that I'm quite sure are still active are life support and some lights here and there; at least the last time I was here. I can't see any of the Mind Walkers using the sensors, even if they still could work anyway, so I doubt our friends who sensed us could use them even if they wanted to."

"You mean much of their technology fell into disrepair and disuse?" Luke asked.

"Pretty much," Jacen said. "I imagine this thing is about as ancient as Centerpoint was, there's most likely a connection between the two, as obviously indicated by their similar appearances. But anyway, there are very few aboard that station who keep up the bare necessities of maintenance to keep the Mind Walkers alive long enough to pass beyond shadows."

"We'd still be on their radar, in any case," Nommy said. "And we have to make a decision quickly; we're coming up on the hangar bay now." On one of the spins, Luke judged that they were now only a few hundred meters away.

But before any of them could come to a conclusion, the _Shadow_ seized up in its roll so that its viewport was facing Sinkhole's hangar bay. It then began slowly heading the rest of its way for the hangar on a linear approach.

"I thought you said only the life support and a few lights would be the only things active aboard that station," Luke said to his nephew. "You didn't say anything about tractor beams still being active."

"I didn't know there were tractor beams that were still active," Jacen countered. "Although, since our friends already know we're still alive anyway..." He then allowed his technique of disguising himself in the Force to drop.

"This isn't a tractor beam," Jacen said after a couple seconds. "This is a unified Force-tug. Our apparent enemies are pulling us in with the Force, and they're no longer disguising their presences."

The Skywalkers allowed their own cloaking techniques to drop, and they felt what Jacen confirmed.

"The dark side is strong in them," Luke said.

"They're Sith," Ben growled.


	36. Chapter 36

The _Jade Shadow_ landed squarely on its extended struts, which were only lowered to touch Sinkhole Station's hangar bay's deck not because of anyone in the cockpit, but because of the dozen figures standing in the hangar itself. After it landed, the Skywalkers, Jacen, and Nommy saw those figures, who they now sensed as the source of the darkness they all felt prior to their arrival on Sinkhole Station.

"Master Skywalker," Nommy said, "may I suggest you turn on your weapons and blast those figures all to oblivion before they try to kill us all?"

Before Luke could even acknowledge Nommy's pleading suggestion, the figure in the center of the dozen black-robed people - a pale human woman - spoke out, her words enhanced by use of the Force. "To the Jedi aboard, even if you can hide yourselves, you can't fool us," she said. "But even so, we offer you no harm, contrary to our own nature as Sith. In fact, we need your ship to escape this dreaded station, and we may also need your help to defeat Abeloth."

In the _Shadow_'s cockpit, everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

"Now, if you would all be so kind as to step off your vessel, I may elaborate in person," the woman continued. "You have exactly five minutes to exit your craft before we board it ourselves to get you out by force, if necessary, starting now."

"You heard the lady," Luke said. "Let's go."

"Wait, wait, why won't we just shoot them?" Nommy asked. "She just admitted that they were Sith. Please don't tell me that it didn't cross your mind that this is a trap, Master Skywalker."

"Of course I've considered that this maybe a trap," Luke acknowledged. "But even so, if they want to kill us, they could've done so by now. After all, if they could unify their powers to bring our ship in, they could probably just as well crushed us from the inside."

"Maybe they're really stupid Sith," Nommy proposed. "In either case, from someone who's dealt with deception and lies for so long, I advise we ignore their plea and just use this ship's weapons to kill them all right now."

"We do not kill anyone who doesn't attempt to harm us, not even Sith," Luke said.

"Again, it could be a trap," Nommy repeated.

"If it is," Luke said, "I can just as well use the Force to activate the _Shadow_'s automatic targeting system to gun down each of those Sith without risking any of our own safety while we're on the deck. Now, let's not waste anymore time, and let's meet our supposed new allies." He then stood up and headed for the back to leave the ship. The others reluctantly followed along.

"You can stay here, Nom Anor," Luke said, stopping in his tracks to turn and face the Yuuzhan Vong. "The Sith can't sense you, and there's no reason you have to join. Besides, it may disturb these Sith if they're unfamiliar with Yuuzhan Vong, or terrify them if they are familiar with your species."

"Good point," Nommy agreed as he seated himself back in the chair behind the pilot seat.

A few moments later, the _Shadow_'s landing ramp was down, and Luke led the way down to meet the assembled Sith. Once the three of them were off the yacht, Luke used the Force to close and lock up the ramp so no one - such as concealed Sith in this area - could sneak past them to board the _Shadow_ and sabotage it or do anything worse.

Warily, the Skywalkers and Jacen approached the party that outnumbered them by four, and stopped halfway when their spokeswoman headed toward them at a diplomatic pace.

"I am Lady Olaris Rhea of the Lost Tribe of the Sith," she introduced herself. She then waved at the Sith behind her. "And these are what are left of my strike team."

"I am Grand Master Luke Skywalker of the Jedi Order. This is my son Ben, and my nephew Jacen. May I ask what happened to the rest of your strike team, Lady Rhea?"

"If you must know, Master Skywalker," Rhea said with a grated tone, "most of my team died on the world where we found Abeloth. You see, we had been sent out by our superiors from our home to track down our savior, something you may not be familiar with; a Sith Meditation Sphere."

"We actually do know about that," Ben spoke up. "I certainly do. Did you happen to name him Ship, by any chance?"

Rhea raised an eyebrow in consternation. "As a matter of fact, we have." She looked back up at Luke. "Anyway, we tracked Ship down to this voracious jungle planet where the majority of my team were picked off by the carnivorous plants there. What remained of us then were saved by a mysterious being known as Abeloth, who attempted to aid us in our search for Ship. Eventually, we did find him, and he brought us here, telling us to wait for three Jedi who would come, so that we may destroy two of them and leave one of them alive to lead us back to the rest of your Order.

"However, once we all settled ourselves in, one of our number had returned to this hangar bay to find that Ship was gone. It was then, after we all knew what had happened, that we concluded what my apprentice, Tyro Vestara Khai, had herself concluded about Abeloth." Rhea then turned back to wave forth one of the Sith from the crowd.

The one who stepped out to stand by Rhea's side in a few seconds was a teenaged human girl, roughly Ben's age, with light brown hair and a minor scar at the corner of her mouth.

"Tyro Khai informed me, prior to our departure from that dangerous world, that she saw what Abeloth really was," Rhea continued. "To the rest of us, she was, as I stated, a mysterious being, an alien woman who appeared to be human, but changed shapes to appear as different sorts of human women. But, when my life was in danger while Abeloth was nearby, my apprentice saved me from death, and she saw that Abeloth was some kind of horrible monstrous being. She doesn't know why she alone saw it, and at the time, I didn't know what to think. But, with Ship's abandonment of us here, I've come to agree with Tyro Khai, as I suspect that Abeloth has control over the Meditation Sphere that had originally coerced it away from our home."

"So you want our help to get revenge on Abeloth for having Ship abandon you here," Luke concluded.

"If you would not offer us help because you have a low view of revenge, Master Jedi," Rhea said, idly brushing her fingertips on the lightsaber hanging on her belt, "we'd be more than happy to simply engage in mortal combat with you and take your ship as a victory prize."

"That won't be necessary," Luke said quickly. "We're on a mission to neutralize Abeloth ourselves. Personally, while I vehemently disagree with your motives against her, I can see from you and the rest of your kind here that attempting to let you join the light side in this alliance would be a waste of time. And while it does disgust me to ally with Sith at all, I'd be a fool to decline your offer of help."

Rhea smiled triumphantly.

"I will say, however, we don't have room for all of you," Luke said.

Rhea nodded, her expression shifting to become objective. "Understandable," she said warily. "How many of us, would you say, would be able to board your ship, Master Skywalker, not including yourself or the rest of your party?"

"Only six," Luke said.

"Then I hope you don't mind if we inspect your ship ourselves to confirm that there is, in fact, room enough for all nine of us," Rhea said.

Luke sighed. "Actually, there's one other currently aboard. So we're talking ten people here."

Rhea looked at him curiously, her apprentice and the rest of the Sith leveling the same gaze at him. "We sensed no other presence aboard your ship when you arrived in the system, before you cloaked yourselves through the Force and attempted to fool us into thinking you somehow died."

"That's because he's outside the Force," Jacen said.

Shocked gasps came from the Sith. Only Rhea looked at Jacen with a startled look. "What do you mean he's outside the Force?"

"Are you familiar with the Yuuzhan Vong?" Jacen asked.

Rhea shook her head. Her action was shared by the rest of her party.

"Well, believe it or not, they're a people who live outside the Force," Jacen elaborated. "It's a long story."

"If this is true," Rhea said, "why have you not invited him here?"

"We didn't want to startle or shock you when you saw a being outside your Force-senses," Luke explained.

"I see," Rhea said with contempt. "Then bring him down here at once."

Jacen sighed. "Hold on," he said as he took out his commlink, ignoring the alerted stances immediately adopted by Rhea and her apprentice, made in case he tried to take out a weapon. Jacen then keyed his friend's frequency and said, "Nommy?"

"Yeah?"

"Come down here," Jacen said. "While they may not believe it, we just told them about you."

"You promise you'll defend me if they try to kill me?"

Jacen rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Yes. Now get down here now."

"Fine, fine, I'll be there in a couple minutes or so," Nommy said before keying off the communication.

Less than two minutes later, the _Shadow_'s boarding ramp lowered again, and Nommy stepped off with a reluctant pace. The next round of startled gasps elicited by the Sith weren't surprising to the Jedi or their Yuuzhan Vong as he joined them.

"How can this be?" Rhea asked as she had her eyes glued to Nommy. "How could a being such as yourself live outside the Force?"

"Do you really want me to tell you?" Nommy asked.

Rhea nodded, and her nod was collectively shared by the rest of the Sith.

Luke waved Nommy off from speaking. "Would you like to hear the story on our way to Abeloth's world, Lady Rhea?" the Grand Master inquired.

Rhea looked angrily at Luke. "Very well," she said. She turned back and pointed at various members in her party, saying, "The six of you will all stay here until we return from our mission against Abeloth."

The indicated Sith hesitated but reluctantly nodded, wordlessly acknowledging to obey the order they obviously didn't want to follow.

Which now left Rhea, her apprentice, one purple-skinned male in his twenties, a light-skinned human male roughly the same age, a purple-skinned female in her thirties, and a light-skinned female who seemed about a year away from reaching her twenties as the Sith to join the Skywalkers, Jacen, and Nommy.

And so, leaving behind the half-dozen Sith unable to join behind, the ten of them boarded the _Shadow_, and within a few minutes, Luke revealed to them the extra guest quarters that could suit a few more guests. Once the tour was done, the Grand Master rejoined his son, nephew, and their Yuuzhan Vong back in the cockpit to fire the ship up.

However, Lady Rhea had joined them to tell them the coordinates needed to get to Abeloth's world.

Soon, the ship was up, running, and turning to leave Sinkhole Station's hangar bay. By now, the Sith left behind had also left the hangar to hide themselves from the _Shadow_'s fired-up boosters elsewhere in the station, which left no one dead as the ship departed.

"So where to?" Luke asked Rhea once they were out of Sinkhole's gravity field.

She took out a datapad from her belt and pressed a few buttons to bring up a display that she spent a few seconds reading. She then looked up and repeated the hyperspace coordinates that would bring them Abeloth's world. With a nod, Luke turned back and sent the _Shadow_ off into the blue of hyperspace.


	37. Chapter 37

After the _Jade Shadow_ jumped into hyperspace from the system occupied by Sinkhole Station, Lady Rhea retreated from the cockpit to one of the guest quarters, which she was sharing with her apprentice, Tyro Vestara Khai. And following Ben and Nommy's departure from the cockpit for their own cabins, Luke and Jacen were left alone to do the next drop out of hyperspace in a few minutes.

Once the first drop occurred, both men found that the comm console was pinging. The Grand Master answered it.

"Luke?" Leia's voice came through.

"Here, Leia," the Grand Master answered. "What is it?"

"Han and I thought we should let you know that Allana felt Abeloth," Leia explained.

"Explain."

"While you were gone, Lando called us in to help him out on Kessel," Leia elaborated. "He told us there were some weird gravity distortions. After we investigated the underground spice caverns, we found these mysterious machines guarded by what we can only call phantoms. We later discovered that these machines, which we concluded from some evidence had a connection to Centerpoint Station, were going to destroy Kessel in a matter of days.

"With the help of Rogue Squadron, we managed to destroy these machines and save the planet. But prior to the attack, Allana felt this mysterious and menacing presence call out to her through the Force. We think it maybe Abeloth."

"Is Allana alright?" Jacen asked.

"Oh, Jacen, we didn't know you were on the comm, too," Leia said, startled.

"Sorry," Jacen apologized meekly.

"You said that these machines had something to do with Centerpoint?" Luke asked his sister.

"I did," Leia confirmed. "Why?"

"Because we just left this station in the Maw that looked like a miniature of Centerpoint," Luke explained.

"Do you think Centerpoint's destruction may have something to do with Abeloth, Luke?" Han asked, cutting into the conversation.

"I think that may very well be likely," Luke said before looking at his nephew. "Do you think so, Jacen?"

"It's definitely possible," Jacen said. "But what could this mean? That Centerpoint was created to keep Abeloth from escaping the rest of the galaxy somehow, and that when it was destroyed, we gave her a means of escape?"

"Well, if that's the case, let's hope we can stop her from doing that," Luke said. He turned back to the comm. "By the way, Han, Leia, we should also let you know that we've aligned ourselves with Sith to take out Abeloth."

"What?!" Han and Leia's voices asked simultaneously.

"We found a dozen of them aboard Sinkhole Station, the one that looks like a miniature of Centerpoint," Luke elaborated. "Only half of them came with us. The other half, their leader, Lady Rhea, hopes to return for after we're done with Abeloth."

"Are you gonna help 'em with that, Luke?" Han asked.

"Not a chance, Han," Luke answered. "Not without a fight, anyway."

"Oh, good," Han replied. "I thought you were going senile in aligning yourself with Sith."

"Speaking of which," Leia cut in, "how could there be more Sith? I thought they only came in twos."

"That's what I thought, as well," Luke said. "But apparently, they call themselves the Lost Tribe of the Sith. I guess that means they were isolated from the galaxy on some kind of out-of-the-way planet. They certainly didn't know about the Yuuzhan Vong, as their shocked reaction to Nom Anor suggests."

"Lady Rhea did say that Ship was their savior," Jacen said. "I guess that means that he saved them from isolation. These guys were probably on whatever planet they were on for thousands of years, I'm thinking."

"Ship?" Leia asked. "You mean that Sith Meditation Sphere that Ben brought back from Ziost?"

"The very same," Luke answered.

"Luke, once this alliance with Abeloth is over, and you and the Sith go back to trying to kill each other, leave one of 'em alive," Han suggested. "You could use one of them to lead you back to their homeplanet, so we could get the Jedi Order to kill 'em all."

"We don't just _kill_, Han," Luke reminded him. "If the Sith surrender, or offer to turn back on their ways, we will offer them that chance to spare them their lives."

"Uh-huh, and what's the chance of them baring their stomachs like that?" Han retorted.

Luke didn't reply.

"That's what I thought," Han said. "Anyway, we also have some other news for you: Jysella Horn fell for that madness that her brother and Seff Hellin suffered."

"The one where they think everyone around them is an imposter?" Luke inquired.

"Exactly," Leia confirmed. "She entered the Temple just like Hellin did, and was caught like him. That gas vent Tekli installed is really putting itself to good use."

"Have Cilghal or Tekli figured out how to block off Abeloth's influence from their minds?" Luke asked.

"Not yet," Leia answered. "Whatever her influence is, it's going beyond the Force. Not even ysalamari can stop it."

"Is that all the news about the Order?" Luke asked.

"It is," Han answered.

"What about Daala and the rest of the Galactic Alliance?"

"She's holdin' up the government nicely," Han commented. "She may very well bring the GA back to balance with the Imperial Remnant and make both governments stronger in the end. Jag is certainly making it a lot easier for Daala."

"That's good news," Luke said.

"Is Jacen still with you, Luke?" Leia asked.

"I am," Jacen answered for himself.

"We have some bad news for you," Han said, his tone belaying any disgusted feelings to his resurrected son. "Tahiri's been arrested for killin' Grand Admiral Pellaeon."

Jacen's face dropped in shock.

"Is that all?" Luke asked, keeping in mind Jacen's expression.

"That is," Han confirmed. "We'll keep you updated. 'Til then, Luke, may the Force be with you."

"Goodbye, Han, Leia," Luke said before immediately killing the communication.

"I told her it was a bad idea to stay in that apartment of hers!" Jacen exclaimed.

"Relax, Jacen," Luke commanded. "She made her choice-"

"Yeah, and now, she's paying for it!" Jacen interrupted. "Kriff, I should have just stayed with my guns in kidnapping her."

"You know that's wrong," Luke said.

Jacen sighed. "Yeah, I know. But now Tahiri will be executed! I've seen it! And it's all my fault! If I hadn't told her to murder Pellaeon if she thought it was necessary..."

Luke rested his artificial hand on Jacen's left shoulder. "It'll be alright," the Grand Master said, the words sounding hollow even to him.

Jacen didn't offer any complaint.


	38. Chapter 38

Meditating in his cabin, Ben was roused from his concentration when a knock on the door came from the other side. He opened his eyes and stretched out with his feelings, determining who it was.

One of the Sith. Specifically, it was Lady Rhea's apprentice, Tyro Vestara Khai. Ben couldn't help but growl quietly as he stood up from his cross-legged sitting position and walked to the door. He stopped more than a meter away, just in case the Sith intended to skewer him with her lightsaber.

"What do you want?" he asked stiffly.

"I want to come in, Jedi," Khai replied, albeit with more of a patient tone.

"Why?"

"So I can talk with you."

"Why do you want to talk to me?" Ben inquired suspiciously.

"Because I want to, that's why," Khai answered, her tone getting impatient rather quickly.

In spite of the undercurrent of darkness in her speech, Ben could sense no ill intent coming from her otherwise. Theoretically, that meant she wouldn't do him any harm, but Sith could be sneaky like that. It wouldn't surprise Ben if she and the rest of the Sith aboard - regardless of whether or not they were following Rhea's orders - decided to simply kill their hosts and take on Abeloth themselves.

Then again, the Sith did outnumber the Jedi here. So if they wanted to take over the ship, there were quicker and more practical ways to do it without having to resort to duplicity and deception.

Deciding it was worth the risk - as he'd be ready to counter any attacks Khai might offer him - Ben used the Force to open up the door to his quarters, and let the neutrally-expressed Sith inside. Once she stepped past the threshold, Ben closed the door with the Force again.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"About the darkness I sense in you," she said with a smirk. "The darkness that I know that Lady Rhea and the rest of the Sith can sense radiating from you."

Ben kept his posture and expression from betraying any of the feelings he was having right now; namely, anger and doubt. "What are you talking about?" His tone was surprisingly more even than he thought he could muster.

"Oh, don't be so modest," Khai said as she casually stepped past him and headed for the cabin's bed. She sat down at the foot of it, lounging back against it with a sultry grin. "We can feel the rage and frustration in you, Ben. Regarding that cousin of yours."

Ben clenched his fists within his folded arms. Even after laughing over the fact that Jacen was in a foursome with Yuuzhan Vong, he still harbored great resentment and hatred against his cousin for what he did during the Second Galactic Civil War.

"Yes," she hissed, noting the Jedi's fists. "The dark side is strong in you. Doesn't do good for a Jedi such as yourself."

Ben was about to bare his teeth angrily before he stopped himself, instantly realizing what the Sith was trying to do to him. He then grinned. "Nice try, Khai, but I've been through more convincing manipulations by a stronger Sith than yourself."

"Manipulations?" she asked with what seemed to be a genuine question. "What manipulations? I'm simply trying to point out that the dark side is strong in you, is all."

Ben couldn't help but shake his head in pity. "You're as transparent as a newly-washed viewport," he said. "Even if you are a talented liar in expression."

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about," she said. Again, her tone seemed genuine.

"Yes, you do," Ben snapped. "You're trying to lure me over to the side of the Sith and make me betray my father. That's one thing that will never happen. So you can go back and tell Lady Rhea that I won't be converting to the dark side of the Force anytime soon."

Khai's face fell with a mix of disappointment and resentment at Ben. She stood up and silently headed back to the door before stopping there and looking back at him.

"It'd be a lot better for both of us if you did convert," she said before looking back, opening the door, and leaving the cabin.

Ben didn't even think about what Khai just said; he simply brushed it off like her unconvincing lie.

.

"Anything new happen on Coruscant today?" Nommy asked as he and Jacen ate dinner in their shared cabin, sitting just at the side of their bed. With Sith throughout the _Jade Shadow_ now, Luke decided it would be best if everyone dined privately from the mess hall, more to avoid any unpleasant contact with the ship's latest guests than anything.

"Another Jedi Knight fell to that psycho illness," Jacen said before taking a bite of his ribenes. "Falleen by the name of Natua Wan. Unfortunately, this was out in public, as she was one of two Jedi guarding my daughter along with my parents and sister. It took place inside a zoo."

"What happened?" Nommy asked.

"A lot of animals got out, but thank the Force that no one was hurt," Jacen said. "My mom did have to kill a mother nexu from killing someone, though."

"What a shame," Nommy deadpanned as he chewed around his own food.

"Jedi Wan was caught by my sister," Jacen continued, ignoring his friend's remark. "But there's another unfortunately in there; you see, that was caught by this holojournalist named Javis Tyrr who used this, along with the recording he got from when Valin was defeated, to claim that the Jedi are dangerous."

"Oh, so someone caught that whole fight against the Horn Jedi?" Nommy asked. At Jacen's nod, Nommy said, "I guess that's why we're out here then with your uncle, your cousin, and these Sith. Hey, wait, it just occurred to me; isn't Valin Horn the son of Corran Horn?"

"He is," Jacen confirmed.

Nommy smiled. "Oh, if there was an afterlife for Yuuzhan Vong who didn't attain the Force, Shedao Shai would be laughing right now."

Jacen shook his head but said nothing.

"So did Daala respond to this whole Jedi Wan thing or...?" Nommy asked.

"She's already demanding that the Jedi release her and the other Jedi they caught to Galactic Alliance custody," Jacen answered.

"Why? Did the Jedi lose some already?"

Jacen shrugged. "I think Daala's just using this as an excuse to make the Jedi Order into pariahs, so she can get 'em under her leash. I'm not surprised."

Nommy nodded in understanding and continued to chow down.


	39. Chapter 39

In the guest quarters they shared with one of the other Sith Sabers - Geglon Uham - Lady Rhea looked down upon her apprentice with disappointment.

"Really?" Rhea asked. "That was what you tried to lure him in with? 'I sense the dark side in you'? I thought I taught you better than that, Tyro Khai."

The teenager looked down to her feet to avoid her Master's gaze. "Please forgive me, Lady Rhea. I am inexperienced in dealing with Jedi."

"We're _all_ inexperienced in dealing with Jedi, Vestara," Rhea pointed out. "But even so, I would think they'd be easier to manipulate than your fellow Sith, namely your Tyro colleagues. The Jedi blindly fight for the light side of the Force and for the weak and pathetic who cannot fend for themselves. They, of all beings, are more prone to deceit and trickery than anyone else, much less other Sith."

"I understand, my Master," Vestara murmured, still not leveling her gaze back up at Rhea.

"And yet, you have nothing more to say for yourself?" Rhea asked disgustedly. She snorted. "And to think I saw potential in you. I can only imagine what your father would say about your horrible performance with young Skywalker."

Vestara grimaced. "He caught me off-guard," she blurted out.

"What?"

The teenaged Sith finally looked back up to her Master. "He caught me off-guard," she repeated with a whisper.

Curling a lip in brief contemplation, Rhea spun around and leveled a finger at the purple-skinned male Keshiri lounging on the bed. "You," she called, instantly catching his attention. "Leave us."

Wordlessly, Geglion Uham nodded, stood up from the bed, and left the cabin to by anywhere else aboard the ship until Rhea called him back.

After Uham was gone, Rhea narrowed her gaze back upon Vestara. "What do you mean young Skywalker caught you off-guard?"

The apprentice pursed her lips nervously. "When I was with him in his quarters, all alone, with no one else around us like we were aboard Sinkhole Station, I..." She sighed as she trailed off.

"You what?" Rhea asked impatiently.

At that point, Vestara couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. "I think I may like him."

Rhea's stern gaze became curious and interested. "Oh?" She crossed her arms. "Why?"

Vestara shrugged. "I don't know. He's quite attractive, admittedly, but... there's something else about him. Something I'm not quite sure."

Rhea placed her right thumb and forefinger beneath her chin in wonderment. "Tell me, have you had similar feelings for any other boy on Kesh?"

Vestara shook her head. "No, never."

"I see," Rhea said. "And this young Skywalker... He obviously has the light side of the Force counterbalancing his dark side, yes?"

Vestara nodded wordlessly.

Rhea then cracked a smile. "Oh, this is precious," she mused. Her face then dropped abruptly to a scowl. "If it weren't for the fact that you have feelings for a Jedi." She then whipped her hand out to Vestara's throat and shoved her to the nearest wall.

"If anyone else finds out about this, Tyro Khai," Rhea growled, "you will disgrace not only yourself before the Lost Tribe, but your whole family." She then backed up and threw Vestara to the floor. "It's bad enough that your father married a non-Force-sensitive-"

As quickly as she was thrown to the floor, Vestara sprang up from her prone position to tackle her Master all the way to the wall behind the older woman. As they both traveled in the few seconds it took for them to reach that wall, Vestara managed to take out her shikkar - her glass-bladed knife - and level the sharp end up against Rhea's throat by the time the latter's back was against the wall.

"Don't you ever talk about my parents like that, _Master_," Vestara growled. "I don't care who you are."

Rhea's expression was unreadable for a moment before she curled one side of her face in amusement. "If this were about anything less," she said as she carefully pushed the knife away from her throat, "I would say you would've redeemed yourself as a Sith. As it is, however, what you just displayed was nothing short of simple protectiveness to your family, Vestara. Looking back, I'm quite surprised you didn't react when your uvak's life was threatened."

Vestara said nothing as she stepped back and sheathed her shikkar, keeping her gaze level with Rhea as the latter stepped away from the wall.

The older woman then leaned in and her face became tight with anger. "And if you _ever_ threaten me like that again, no matter what, I _will_ kill you, Tyro Khai," Rhea growled.

The latter leaned back just as the door to their quarters opened up. Both Sith females looked to the door to the Keshiri Sith standing there.

"Is there a problem in here, Lady Rhea?" Geglon Uham asked.

"No, there isn't, Saber Uham," Rhea replied evenly. She looked back at Vestara. "Tyro Khai and I were simply having a heated discussion and nothing more."

Despite his posture and expression betraying nothing, it was still clear that Uham didn't believe what Rhea just told him; and no one had to use the Force to determine that. Alas, however, the Keshiri didn't argue.

"Very well," he said. "Is it alright if I am allowed back inside, Lady Rhea?"

Rhea nodded. "You may."

Uham returned the nod and rounded the two Sith females to lay back on the bed he vacated previously. Rhea spared him an expressionless look before returning her attention to Vestara and leaning back in again, but to whisper and not growl this time.

"You will use your feelings on young Skywalker from hereon," Rhea silently communicated. She leaned back to announce more aloud, "But try to display more subtlety next time, okay?" Her expression narrowed. "It wouldn't do for you to be caught off-guard again."


	40. Chapter 40

After one final drop out of hyperspace, Luke and Jacen, in the pilot and copilot seat respectively - as they usually were these days - took a moment to look out at the densely green jungle world through the _Jade Shadow_'s forward viewport. When the moment passed, they looked at each other.

"Do you sense her?" Luke asked.

Jacen shook his head. "But I can sense the Sith Meditation Sphere somewhere out in this system. Maybe he sensed our presence, so he decided to inform Abeloth about us. She's probably shielding her presence from us as we speak."

"I can also sense Ship, but I can't triangulate his location through the Force," Luke said.

"Me neither."

"Great," Luke muttered sarcastically. "Well, somebody's going to have to get out there and take care of Ship while the rest of us take care of Abeloth."

"You wanna do it?" Jacen asked.

Luke raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You're one of the galaxy's best starfighter pilots, if not the best starfighter pilot ever," Jacen backed up. "And since I was brought back by the Force to handle Abeloth..."

Luke grimaced. "Fair point." He then pressed a button on the comm console. "Attention, everyone," he announced on the ship-wide comm. "We're here. So strap yourselves in wherever you can and get ready for descent. You have roughly five minutes." He pressed the same button to shut the comm off and looked back at his nephew. "Don't mind me. I'll be off the ship before you breach the atmosphere. You just focus on defeating Abeloth by any means necessary."

"Even if it means resorting to the dark side?" Jacen asked.

"Jacen, don't do this," Nommy said from behind the passenger seat behind the pilot seat.

"No, I think that's fair," Luke said before looking neutrally back to his nephew. "Even if it means that, yes, do what you have to." He then unstrapped himself from his seat, vacated it for Jacen, and rushed out of the cockpit for the _Jade Shadow_'s hangar bay.

"Attention again, everyone," Jacen's voice came through the ship-wide comm. "Grand Master Skywalker is now on his way to take care of the Sith Meditation Sphere somewhere out in this system in his StealthX. That leaves the rest of us to confront Abeloth."

About two and a half minutes later, Luke reached the _Shadow_'s hangar, used the Force to pop open his StealthX's canopy, and leaped straight into it, closing the top above him and powered up the starfighter's engines. Moments later, the StealthX lifted off and powered out through the energy barrier even as the _Shadow_ continued its course for the jungle planet ahead.

However, just after the yacht penetrated the atmosphere, an eyeball-like object suddenly appeared from above the north pole of the planet and rocketed toward the StealthX.

Luke knew what this new arrival was before he could properly see it, or before it reached out to him through the Force.

_Grand Master Skywalker_, the voice of Ship said through Luke's mind. _At last we may do battle; let's see if you really are the galaxy's greatest starfighter pilot_.

Luke didn't have time for a reply before Ship shot out one of his high-velocity metal spheres for the Grand Master's StealthX.

.

Just after the _Shadow_ passed through the planet's atmosphere and was skimming down through the clouds, the ship suddenly seized up and out of Jacen's control. It then went into a steep dive straight for the opening of a volcano several miles below.

"Jacen!" Nommy shouted. "What's going on?!"

"I think Abeloth just took control of the ship!" Jacen yelled back without looking away from the controls he now wrestled with.

"Well, then, do something!" Nommy vainly exclaimed.

Jacen didn't bother to reply as he continued to struggle on the console to regain control of the _Shadow_.

.

Ben, seated in one of the ship's crash seats lined up along the bulkheads (which were pull-outs from the other sides of the walls), watched in surprise and natural suspicion as the Sith with him in the corridor they were in unfastened their harnesses. He was about to ask them what they were doing as they got up out of their seats, each of them using the Force to balance themselves against the pressing gravity from the _Shadow_'s rapid descent, when Khai, who now stood next to him, began unfastening his harness.

"C'mon, Ben," she whispered. "You could prove useful to us against Abeloth." She then hauled him up out of his seat, throwing him up over her shoulder, and began to climb along the corridor, following behind her fellow Sith, as they made their way further to the _Shadow_'s rear.

"What's going on here?" Ben asked, not resisting Khai's grip on him as she continued to lug him on her shoulder.

"We have to get out of here while Abeloth's focused on plunging this ship to its destruction," Khai explained.

"Well, can you at least let me climb on my own?" Ben asked.

"I thought you'd never ask," Vestara said as she let him off her shoulder, allowing him to balance himself on the vertically-inclined deck with the Force.

But then Ben just as quickly let himself fall from his position before Khai could catch him, allowing himself to plummet all the way toward the entrance to the _Shadow_'s cockpit. He stopped himself from falling right in as he spread his legs out so that his feet caught either end of the entrance's threshold before turning around and bending down from his position.

"We have to get outta here!" Ben called to Jacen and Nommy in the cockpit.

The older human and the Yuuzhan Vong looked from the viewport showing them how much distance they had from death back to the teenaged Jedi. They then looked at each other and nodded before Jacen gave Nommy a lift up toward Jacen, who reluctantly helped the Yuuzhan Vong up and through the threshold.

Further up the deck, Khai looked back at the cockpit with a mix of frustration and concern before turning her head from Lady Rhea's, "Come along, Vestara!"

Khai gave the entrance of the cockpit one last look to find Ben helping his cousin up before turning back again and rejoining her fellow Sith to escape the ship.

A few seconds later, however, before anyone could get anywhere near the escape pods, the ship abruptly accelerated in its trajectory for the volcano's open-topped entrance, throwing everyone back from their courses. Jacen, Nommy, and Ben all fall back through the cockpit's entrance to collapse against the viewport while the Sith above them descended in their general direction. Along the way, each of them managed to gain some kind of handhold in their individual descents, stopping them from reaching the cockpit.

All of them except for Khai, who plummeted right through the cockpit entrance and landed prone atop of Ben, who was laying between Jacen and Nommy.

Before anything else could happen, the _Shadow_ made another abrupt change in its descent as it veered sharply away from the entrance of the volcano and clipped its forward fuselage along the entrance's lip. The ship then began flipping forward, out of control, toward the tree canopy at the bottom. The rear end of the _Shadow_ smashed through the tops of some trees, its rockets now clogged up with debris from the ancient plants, which then turned the yacht into deadweight as it continued to roll through the forest it found itself in. It caromed and knocked down several more trees before landing in a long skid along the forest floor, its bow spearheading the skid forward, and it continued to knock down several more trees in its path before coming to an eventual stop.

It was a wonder how everyone aboard the ship, especially the four people in the cockpit, ended up in one piece, never mind alive, from all that violent tumbling. In fact, it seemed to be the will of the Force that they ended up in the exact same positions they were in before the _Shadow_ clipped the lip of the volcano mouth, though their positions were now horizontal rather than vertical against the ship's viewport.

"Is everyone okay?" Jacen asked, looking around the damaged cockpit.

"I think I may have broken a couple of ribs," Nommy groaned, holding onto his sides.

"Some bacta from the medbay can heal that," Jacen said curtly. "I'm fine, by the way. The two of you okay?" He indicated Ben and Khai.

"I'm fine," they both answered.

"Now get off me," Ben said as he tried to shove Khai off of him.

"Sorry," she apologized as she moved to get out of him.

"Anyone want to tell me why we're still alive?" Nommy asked, still minding his sides, as he moved away from the viewport and back down to the deck.

"I have a theory," Khai chimed in. "I think Abeloth is gonna be toying with us."

"Why?" Jacen asked after he and Ben also moved from the viewport and back to the deck.

"Because she feeds off fear," she explained. "I've felt it. She could've easily just killed us back at that volcano. But she's letting us live so that our fear of her will fuel her power."

"So, basically, even if we go out there and confront her," Jacen said, "she'll still only gain more power from us."

Khai nodded grimly. "That's the gist of it."

Jacen sighed. "Kriff my bantha."


	41. Chapter 41

Luke banked his StealthX hard to starboard to dodge the next metal sphere fired by Ship before sending a triple burst of red lasers for the Sith Meditation Sphere. However, the sentient vessel managed to dive beneath the lethal beams of light before firing yet another metal ball for the StealthX, which the latter, again, dodged quite easily.

For the past several minutes, the dogfight between Luke and Ship had been like this in some form or another, as neither combatant was able to strike the other with their own projectiles. They were reaching a stalemate without either of them getting so much as a scratch along their hulls.

That was until one of the metal spheres finally managed to catch the StealthX's port S-foil, sending it on a spiral for the jungle planet ahead.

_Happy landings, Master Skywalker_, Ship mocked as he sailed over the tumbling starfighter.

Luke began working in vain to make sure that his StealthX wouldn't burn up in the atmosphere; if he was going to land, he'd make sure it would, in fact, be a happy landing.

.

"I'm still in pain," Nommy whined as he hiked with Jacen, Ben, and the half-dozen Sith through the voracious jungle that they left the _Jade Shadow_ for.

"Bacta patches aren't an instant cure for broken ribs, Nommy," Jacen said without taking his eyes off the cleared trail ahead of the group. "They take time. So stop your whining." He then swung his activated lightsaber at a carnivorous plant that lashed out at him, as did some of the Sith.

"I won't stop my whining, especially not when we're heading to the cave of a being that nearly killed us and only spared us for our fear," Nommy countered.

"Well, learn to live with it," Vestara Khai said as she chopped down the stalk of another man-eating plant. "On this planet, you're safer here with us than on the _Jade Shadow_. She can hunt you down and kill you, and you can't put up any kind of fight."

"Has everyone forgotten that I can't be sensed through the Force?" Nommy pointed out. "If I'm outside the Force, Abeloth can't sense me."

"You still have the potential to gain a presence through the Force," Jacen said.

"But if she doesn't know I'm here, and I stayed aboard the _Shadow_, I could've been safe," Nommy argued. "Now that I'm out here, I'm basically screwed."

"I doubt she doesn't know you're here," Jacen said. "When she was pulling the _Shadow_ down, I could sense her watching us. Even if she can't sense you, I think she saw you. So again, that's why you're safer with us than aboard the _Shadow_. Now shut the hell up."

Further along the track, the group all looked up and saw a distant object in the sky trailing smoke, falling rapidly to the forest floor on a collision course away from the Sith and their allies.

"Dad!" Ben called out. "He's gonna crash!"

"Good riddance then," Lady Rhea said.

Ben scowled at the Sith before stopping in his tracks and reaching out through the Force to help his father.

_No need, Ben_, Luke's voice echoed in his son's mind. _I can eject from here_.

Reluctantly, Ben broke off the connection with his father and then saw another object shoot off from the dying StealthX; undoubtedly, it was Luke safely ejecting to safety.

Then again, on a world like this, safety was a relative term. But for now, it was good enough for Ben to snap out of his trance and rejoin the group, who were all standing there looking at him with curiosity. He waved off any questions that some of them had.

"Another thought just occurred to me," Nommy announced almost casually.

Jacen couldn't help but roll his eyes in annoyance. "What is it now?"

"If we're on a planet where this being knows about us, who we are, and uses our fear to strengthen her, why won't she just appear before us and kill us all right here right now?" he asked. "I mean, sure, she is getting more out of this by keeping us alive, but eventually, won't she realize that she'll have to do something to us to make sure none of us pose a threat?"

"You really don't know when to shut u-AAAAHHHH!"

The male human Sith in the group was suddenly snatched up by the chest, entrapping his arms within the fold of the grey tentacle that grabbed him so that he couldn't use his lightsaber on it. The tentacle pulled him up into a nearby tree and out of sight from the rest of the group, who all turned in the direction of where he disappeared to. His scream was cut off as soon as his form was encompassed by the top of the canopy above.

"I should've kept my mouth shut," Nommy muttered nervously.

As quickly as he disappeared above the canopy, the human male Sith was just as promptly dropped back into view and collapsed prone to the forest floor. Again, each individual in the group regarded him with healthy levels of fear - except for Nommy, who was now quivering where he stood - before the landed Sith pushed himself up to his feet.

He kept his face from their sight until he tilted his head back to their level, revealing deep pools of light in his eyes and a horrific smile exposing needle-sharp teeth.

"Abeloth!" Rhea shouted.

In response, the most recent victim of the aforementioned entity suddenly had purple tentacles in place of his arms, which promptly lashed out against the group before him.

Everyone dropped prone to the ground to avoid the swiping tentacles before swinging their lightsabers up against the lashing appendages. Yet none of the sizzling blades managed to cut through the tentacles as they passed over to be reeled back in by the transformed Sith, who then leaped toward them.


	42. Chapter 42

From his decreasing vantage point as he parachuted from the air, Luke watched as his smoke-trailing StealthX barrel-rolled off into the distance to ram through the distant canopy and, seconds later, explode against the forest floor.

However, as soon his starfighter was destroyed, Luke felt his floating form suddenly pulled away from the direction that the wind was currently taking him and he quickly found himself heading toward the base of a volcano nearby. Knowing that he would break something if he didn't control his now-rapid descent for the ground, Luke used the Force to cushion his parachuting fall mere seconds prior to his inevitable landing.

And yet, even upon quickly disengaging himself from the parachute, and rolling several meters across the ground in an attempt to break his fall, Luke still ended with a sprained ankle in his left foot, something that he couldn't help but holler in agony over.

.

After batting away another tentacle attack by the Abeloth-possessed Sith with his lightsaber, Ben seized up again when he heard his father cry out in pain somewhere further away in the jungle. So distracted, was he, that he didn't see the other tentacle lash out toward him from the other side.

Hence, Jacen had no choice but to duck and roll beneath the tentacle that Ben batted away and tackled his cousin out of the way, the flexible appendage that was about to strike him passing by overhead.

"Worry about your dad later!" Jacen said before rolling off of his cousin and blocking one of the tentacles with his lightsaber.

.

Luke writhed on the forest floor, several meters away from the base of the volcano nearby, from the pain in his ankle. He struggled to stand up, and when he finally did, he only collapsed prone to the ground again, even with the Force to cushion his landing.

Before he could try again, he froze at the sound of a familiar feminine voice echoing his name. "Luke..."

The wounded Grand Master looked up hesitantly and found one of his long-lost loves a few meters away, an ethereal glow surrounding her form. Her smile only added to that mystical glow.

"Callista," he murmured.

The woman who Luke once thought to be his soul-mate nodded. "After all these years, it's so good to see you." She then began walking toward him. "I've missed you so much, Luke. You have no idea how much I've wanted to come back into your life, to be held in your strong arms again." Callista then bent down. "And now we have that chance again. I will never leave you again, as I was a fool to leave your life to begin with. Oh, Luke, I've been so lonely." As she said those last three sentences, she cupped his face in her hands and began pulling him in for a kiss.

But then Luke grabbed both of Callista's wrists and stopped her progress. She opened her eyes from her would-be kiss and looked back at her former lover with sadness and curiosity.

"You're not Callista," he growled. "What have you done with her?"

"Luke, what's wrong?" she asked, maintaining her facade of sadness and curiosity. "It's me, Callista!"

Again, Luke pushed himself to his feet, barely wobbling on his sprained ankle. Then, with a deft flick of his hand, his lightsaber was off his belt and ignited, much to the shock of the faux Callista.

"You've been lonely, huh?" he asked with a grimace.

Her eyes widened with what appeared to be fear as she nodded wordlessly.

"For how long?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

Two seconds after he inquired that, Callista's expression simply dropped away to be replaced by a smoldering anger. "Too long," she said in thousands of voices.

All at once, her body devolved from that of Callista to that of a gray tentacled entity with a wide gaping maw inhabited entirely by sharp fangs and eyes that were deeply lit wells. She was nothing more than that, and yet incomprehensibly more than that, as she lashed out with her tentacles.

.

"These are some resilient tentacles!" Vestara Khai commented as she continued to swing and dodge the tentacles coming from the Abeloth-possessed Sith.

"They're not resilient!" Jacen called back a little way from the battle, his breath exerted as he, too, continually dodged away from and struck out at their monstrous foe. "Your friend here's using Force-shields to block our lightsaber blades!"

"And it doesn't seem like we'll be able to wear those shields down!" Ben observed amidst his own actions against the tentacles. "We'll be dead or whatever this guy is before that happens!"

As if to punctuate Ben's point, one of the tentacles struck out at the female human Sith who wasn't Lady Rhea or Khai, enveloping the poor woman's chest and knocking her lightsaber out of her hands in one stroke. The tentacle then lifted the screaming Sith into the air as its enveloping tip took advantage of its victim's shriek to enter her mouth. The Sith gagged on it for several seconds before going limp.

The tentacle then released its unmoving victim to fall back to the ground; only when she landed, it went into a mindless tumble to a figuratively dead-on descent that ended in a crouch. The Sith then looked up, her eyes also now glowing as that of her male counterpart, and she, too, began lashing out at her foes with her tentacles, joining her similarly monstrous ally in combat.

"Jacen, I hope you have some way of beating these things!" Ben shouted as he and the survivors doubled up on their defenses from the new duo of tentacles.

.

Luke was forced to gradually back away through the jungle floor as Abeloth hammered at his defensive strikes with her Force-shielded tentacles. And with his sprained ankle, the Grand Master had to summon up yet more energy from the Force to defend himself, which became all the more taxing as the duel continued.

As the fight progressed, Abeloth couldn't help but laugh a demonically sinister multi-voiced bellow, never letting up on her own attacks in the process. That somehow made things even more difficult for Luke to defend himself.

"We will be together, Luke," she said. "I have foreseen it. It is inevitable. It is unavoidable. It is your destiny!"

The Grand Master had no choice but to suppress a shiver lest he let up on his defenses. That callback to what Palpatine said to him aboard the second Death Star all those decades ago made him feel as desperate and hopeless now as he felt then.

"Forgo your Jedi heritage!" Abeloth proclaimed. "And take your place at my side!" After that, Abeloth renewed her ferocity and managed to strike out at Luke's bad leg - the one with the sprain - and he fell back to the ground in a pained heap.

Before he could even begin to recover, he felt his lightsaber ripped from his hand and watched, powerless for the moment, as Abeloth wrapped her tentacle around it and crushed it, sending the pieces falling to the ground in a useless pile.

Abeloth struck out with her tentacles again, with one of them wrapping around Luke's torso, while the other end aimed directly for his mouth.

.

After the female human Sith fell prey to whatever Abeloth did to her male predecessor, it wasn't long in the fight before the Keshiri Sith in the group were gradually worn out enough to be assimilated as one of the demonic entities that fought for Abeloth's bidding. And now, Jacen, Nommy - who did his best to hide throughout the battle - Ben, Khai, and Rhea were the only ones left. The four combatants among them now faced off against the entities one-on-one each, with Jacen battling the human male Sith, Ben battling the Keshiri male, Rhea battling the Keshiri female, and Khai battling the human female.

And it was clear that, as each of the individual duels took their time, that the more mortal combatants were going to need some kind of miracle if they were going to make it out of this in one piece, never mind achieve victory.

Eventually, one of the tentacles that Jacen was facing off was dodged by the former Jedi - who fought with a spare green-bladed lightsaber from the _Jade Shadow_ - and it went sailing for the cowering Nommy further down the tree line.

It struck the Yuuzhan Vong full in the chest and quickly wrapped around his body even as he vainly struggled against the powerful grip. He screamed out, and that was all the tentacle needed to enter his wide-open mouth.

But seconds after it did, the tentacle abruptly pulled back out before Nommy could fall unconscious, and he only fell to the jungle floor on his hands and knees rather than flat on his belly. The tentacle, meanwhile, reeled back much to the pained chagrin of its owner, who stopped attacking Jacen to back up in pain. It latched its other tentacle onto the one that tried to assimilate Nommy, and Jacen, hesitating for two seconds only from confusion, ultimately decided to take advantage and attack.

His resultant stab in the human male's gut unleashed a primal, shrieking scream from its victim, but it was more like a flesh-wound pain than a fatal one, Jacen hastily judged in his head. So he decided to add to his opponent's pain by slicing his sizzling blade up and along the possessed Sith's body, eliciting even more pained screams, before the green blade sliced out of the entity's left shoulder. Its left tentacle, the one that hadn't touched Nommy, fell completely limp just as its agonized owner backed away.

And as it did, so did the other monsters around them.

Rushing in, Jacen took the opportunity and finished off his opponent, effectively putting him out of his misery, as he decapitated the monster in one fell swoop.

.

Abeloth hadn't even begun to make Luke into roughly what she was before she had to eject her tentacle from his mouth and back up in pain, screaming painfully in those thousands of voices.

Luke looked up to the pained entity that nearly did... whatever she was going to do to him and looked in the general direction of where those other screams were coming from - the ones that didn't come from Abeloth herself.

He shoved himself up to his feet and quickly hobbled over to where he heard those voices; but he was just as quickly pulled back in when one of Abeloth's tentacles wrapped itself around his body so that it entrapped his arms and pulled him back toward her. The tentacle then turned him around so that he gazed fearfully back into the deep pools of Abeloth's eyes.

"We will be one!" she declared.

But then her grip around him went slack in an instant as she stumbled back, letting the Grand Master fall back to the ground again.

.

After the human male Sith died, the screams of pain from the others intensified. Learning from Jacen's example in how he dealt with his opponent, Ben, Khai, and Rhea also rushed in simultaneously to put their own foes out of their misery, and one swipe from each of their blades sent their decapitated bodies tumbling to the ground, with the heads rolling away further into the treeline behind them.

"Well, that was easy," Nommy commented. "Who would've figured that cutting their heads off would be an effective tool to use against them." His tone was completely sardonic.

"Yeah, you call that easy," Khai retorted, her breath coming in heavy heaves as a result of the entire battle. "How did you even survive that anyway? What did you do to it to make it pained?"

"We have to save Dad!" Ben yelled urgently. "He's in trouble, I can feel it!" He quickly deactivated and hooked his lightsaber back to his belt before sprinting off in the direction of where he felt his father to be, uncaring of who was following him.

Jacen was surprised to find Khai, her lightsaber also deactivated and hooked back to her belt, sprinting ahead of him before he could even think to give chase. He looked back at Rhea, who nodded and joined his side as they went after the teenagers, also deactivating and hooking their sabers back to their belts.

"By the way, how did your Forceless friend here did to your opponent to elicit that kind of pain in each of our enemies?" she asked as she pointed to Nommy, who hurried to catch up with them.

"I'll hazard a guess," Jacen replied. "Nommy's Forcelessness, as you put it, disgusted and even somehow pained my opponent who would live off the life energies of whoever they assimilate. Now while it's not necessarily true that a life essence could live without the Force, as Nommy and his species wouldn't even be alive without it, I think Abeloth and whoever she assimilates rely primarily on Force-essences as life essences, which Nommy doesn't have in the former."

"But that doesn't explain why the rest of them were affected," Rhea pointed out.

"They must be in some kind of hive mind of sorts," Jacen answered. "Trust me, I've been with a species that have been in a hive mind and assimilate others into them." Even if he wasn't entirely a Joiner like the rest of his friends who survived the Yuuzhan Vong War's Mission to Myrkr, Jacen had a clear idea of how the Killiks operated, and he understood how a hive mind operated fairly well.

"Then let's hope Abeloth will still be weak enough for us to deal with," Rhea proclaimed.

.

Luke hobbled away in a hurry, continually ducking and dodging the tentacles that came his way from behind as Abeloth gave chase. A near-miss was all it took for him to collapse prone to the ground before turning to his back and looking back up at the monstrous entity approaching him.

She was about to lash out with her tentacles again before she stopped and looked over Luke. The Grand Master looked in that direction, too, and saw Ben and the Sith girl, Khai, jump out of some bushes, their lightsabers in their hands and active. They ran a few paces before leaping up into the air, prepared to swing their blades down upon the entity beneath them.

However, Abeloth reacted much faster, as she lashed out her flexible appendages for the teenagers and wrapped them around their bodies, squeezing their arms together so that they couldn't use their weapons.

Abeloth smiled that vicious smile of hers as she was about to stick the tips of her tentacles in their mouths, with Luke laying there, unable to help at all. However, before Abeloth could commit what she did with the other Sith, she let out another pained multi-voiced shriek as a green lightsaber suddenly seemed to manifest in her chest. She then dropped the teenagers, and Luke looked back to find Jacen, Rhea, and Nommy standing there, with his nephew's arm outstretched from throwing the lightsaber.

Jacen then leaped up into the air to land before Abeloth, grabbed the pommel of his still-active lightsaber, and sliced straight past her left shoulder, increasing her torment all the way. Then, after it sliced through the shoulder, Jacen swung the lightsaber horizontally, decapitating the monstrous entity just as he, Ben, Khai, and Rhea had all done.

Seconds after Abeloth's decapitated body collapsed in two on the ground, her body simply vanished into thin air.


	43. Chapter 43

"Well, that was disappointingly easy," Nommy commented as he and the others looked to where Abeloth's decapitated form vanished.

"You're complaining?" Jacen asked.

"Well, I'd just think that it'd be much harder to defeat this bitch when any idiot with a lightsaber could've done the same thing," Nommy said. He looked at Jacen. "In fact, didn't you have to achieve oneness with the Force to defeat Onimi, who was just a psychopath with special powers?"

Jacen shrugged. "I guess Abeloth was too weakened after we killed those other avatars of hers. Well, I'm just glad it's over."

"Still don't see why the Force had to bring you back for this," Ben grunted. "Lady Rhea could've done the same thing over here."

"Perhaps things could've gone a lot differently if Jacen didn't come back," Luke said as he pushed himself back to his feet. Ben came rushing over to help steady his father. "We probably wouldn't have even come out here if it weren't for Jacen's return." He then looked at Khai and Rhea. "Which now brings up the question of what we do with each other now that Abeloth is dead."

Before either Sith could answer, a sonic boom occurred in the sky and everyone looked up to find the eyeball-shaped form of Ship rapidly descending for the group.

The Jedi, along with their Yuuzhan Vong compatriot, looked back at the Sith, the now-separate Force-sensitives staring back at each other with determination.

Everyone but Luke and Nommy activated their lightsabers simultaneously, and Ben quickly released his father from his hold to charge for Khai, who was already heading his way while Jacen and Rhea headed for each other. Nommy, meanwhile, reluctantly took hold of Luke from collapsing back to the ground.

"Thanks," Luke said as his son and nephew dueled the Sith.

"Don't mention it," Nommy replied.

The two of them looked up again and saw that Ship was soaring into firing range now, and just like that, it fired a metal sphere for Luke and Nommy. Again, the former was thrown to the ground as Nommy tackled him out of the way, with the sphere behind them creating a man-sized crater where they once stood.

Almost simultaneously, Khai and Rhea took the opportunity to execute three flips back from their opponents before leaping up to the sweeping form of Ship. By then, the Meditation Sphere had already extended a ramp from his hull for the Sith to enter before just as quickly furling it back up and soaring back up to the sky.

"They're not going to just fly off like that," Luke said as he and Nommy picked themselves up. "They're heading to destroy the _Shadow_ irreparably!"

As if to confirm his words, Ship executed a backward loop and headed off the general direction of where the _Jade Shadow_ currently was.

"Ben and I are on it!" Jacen shouted before he took off, with Ben following him with only a second's hesitation.

It wasn't long before the cousins leaped up into the treetops to hop along the branches, swiping their lightsabers at any predators that came their way, as they cleared the distance to the _Shadow_ so that they matched with Ship.

Two minutes later, the Jedi and Ship arrived at the _Shadow_'s crash site, and the latter fired off several metal spheres for the downed ship.

But at the very same time, Jacen and Ben were soaring above the crash site, turning in midair so that their backs faced the yacht below, before they both unleashed simultaneous Force-blasts that sent the spheres rocketing back to their firer.

The lethal balls ripped right through Ship's hull, puckering it with several holes throughout before it began spinning rapidly to the ground and away from the _Shadow_ as Jacen and Ben landed nimbly on their feet on top of the yacht's hull. They turned and watched as Ship tumble through the trees ahead, smashing through them and knocking them down until it eventually came to a stop about a block away.

"Let's go," Jacen said before setting off with Ben to Ship's own crash site, the both of them jumping off the _Shadow_'s hull. By then, they already deactivated and hooked their lightsabers back to their belts.

After a short hike later, the cousins arrived and stood before the laying form of the Sith Meditation Sphere.

"He's dead, no question about it," Ben commented as he regarded Ship's pockmarked corpse.

"So you wanna do the cutting or should I?" Jacen asked.

"I'll handle it," Ben said neutrally before activating his lightsaber and plunging his blade into the hull.

He soon made a perfect man-sized circle after deactivating his blade, hooked it back up, and then used the Force to pull the smoldering piece of hull away from what it was cut from. The piece went flying away, and Ben stepped in first to survey the inner wreckage, his cousin following suit. It didn't look any different from the outside, aside from its occupants.

Rhea was dead, her corpse splayed on the deck with her limbs resting at unnatural angles, with her broken neck acting as evidence to her cause of death. Khai, on the other hand, while her left leg was bent to that it was twisted out of place, was still alive but unconscious, as evidenced by her slow breathing.

"Should we help her?" Jacen asked.

"She's a Sith apprentice who nearly stranded us on this planet just minutes ago," Ben said. He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess we should."

Jacen reluctantly nodded in agreement. "So should you carry her out or should I?"

"I'll take her," Ben replied neutrally before moving toward Khai's unconscious body.

Jacen smirked. "Of course you will," he said as his cousin picked up the Sith.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ben asked after he had Khai in his arms.

Jacen raised an eyebrow. "What do you think it means?"

Ben shook his head before moving past his cousin to exit the Sith Meditation Sphere.


	44. Chapter 44

Khai's eyes flashed open so that she found herself in the _Jade Shadow_'s medbay, strapped down on its emergency operating table with her wrists and ankles unable to move more than a few millimeters in their bonds.

"Don't even think about using the Force here, Khai," Ben's voice said from off to the side.

Khai looked to her left to find the redhead Jedi sitting in a cross-legged position on the medbay's deck a few meters from the operating table. He did nothing else but breathe normally and stare back at the Sith his age.

"I'm here to make sure of that," he concluded.

Khai grimaced. "You mean you can stop me from doing this..." She trailed off quickly as she flexed her left hand to send the empty tray that stood at the foot of the table toward Ben.

But the Jedi raised one hand to deflect the tray to send it sprawling back to the deck next to him while simultaneously using the other send a minor burst of the Force smacking across Khai's head.

"Ow!" Khai yelped, shaking her head from the ache that was now fresh in her left temple.

"If you want to avoid another one of those," Ben uttered, "you'll either lay there and be quiet or I'll give you a dose of sedative. I prefer not to do the latter because one, simply laying there all tied up with nothing to do is probably going to put quite a crimp in your muscles after a while. So putting something that will relax you back into unconsciousness probably won't make your situation any better, to say the least.

"Second, to be completely honest here - unlike you Sith, of course - I prefer someone to talk to or at least have some kind of waking company while I have the oh-so exciting job of watching you lie on that table for four hours."

Khai regarded Ben neutrally. "If you know that not using my muscles when I'm tied down like this, does that mean there'll be periods where I can get up and walk or something like that?"

"Don't get too excited," Ben replied sternly. "You'll still be either under my supervision, or that of my cousin's, and we'll doubly make sure you don't try to pull anything funny while you're up and about. Jacen and I take shifts, by the way, every four hours or so watching you, while whoever's not on shift is helping my dad repair the _Shadow_ to leave this planet."

"Good to know," Khai replied sardonically. "Now what happened to Lady Rhea and Ship."

"They're both dead," Ben answered without the slightest hint of sympathy; he stated it like he was delivering a report to his father or to a high-ranking military leader.

"What?!" Khai asked with alarm.

"You remember how Jacen and I redirected those metal spheres Ship fired back at him?" Ben inquired.

Khai bared her teeth angrily. "You killed Ship and Lady Rhea," she growled.

Ben cocked his head, as if to casually indicate that it was her fault and not his that her Master and the Sith Meditation Sphere were both gone. "I don't suppose you feel lucky that you made it out okay?" he asked sardonically.

The Sith girl screamed in rage before reaching out with her still-bound left for the tray now behind Ben to reel it up behind him to slam against his back. But again, he was prepared, as he already enacted a Force-shield at his rear before delivering yet another Force-blow against the side of Khai's head, eliciting another yowl of pain from her.

"If you keep on doing this, I don't think even my father would be adverse to the idea of just getting rid of you and saving us all the trouble," he said in that casually cold manner.

"Shut up," Khai growled.

"Only if you will," Ben replied evenly. "It'll make things a lot easier for the both of us if we just remained silent."

Khai then looked away from Ben and allowed her head to drop back against the table she was strapped on. Her body then began shaking from sobs, and Ben only stared back with cool objectification.

"How could you be so cruel?!" Khai literally cried. "You're a Jedi! You're supposed to be guardians of peace and justice to the galaxy!"

"And I'm guarding you against the peace and justice that your people dare to oppose, Khai," Ben replied, his tone not displaying any emotion. "So unless you do something crazy like, oh, I don't know, change sides, you're gonna remain a prisoner here for however long my father deems necessary."

Khai looked back at Ben, her eyes still streaming tears even as she glared back at him angrily. Yet she didn't look at him hatefully, as if she were more severely disappointed with him than having homicidal thoughts against him. "When my father finds out what you did to me, he'll-"

"Yeah, yeah, when he gets here, he'll have to deal with my dad, and I thought your dad'll handle mine," he interrupted.

"Your dad? You mean the one with a sprained ankle who nearly got killed by a monster who was so easily destroyed by your cousin?" Khai countered with a forced tone of sarcasm. "I'm _sure_ my dad won't stand a chance."

Ben nodded as if she were speaking the truth rather than mocking him. "Speaking of your dad, I don't suppose you can tell me where the rest of your people are."

"What?!" Khai shouted. "You mean after all that, you think I can just tell you about where my people are so you and the rest of your pathetic Jedi Order can come to attack our homeplanet?!"

"Well, hey, if the Order I'm in is so pathetic, why _won't_ you reveal the location of your home?" Ben inquired in a mocking tone. "After all, you make it sound like my dad's Jedi won't stand a chance."

"They won't," she growled. "Of that, I swear."

"Uh-huh," Ben nodded in a bored tone. "So, c'mon, gimme the name of your homeworld and where it is."

"You're really not good at this, are you?" she inquired, her tone still riddled with the emotions she was enduring.

"Yeah, well, you certainly didn't do a good job trying to manipulate me to the dark side," Ben countered aptly as he stood up from the deck. "And yet, here I am, acting as a Sith would; cold, heartless, objective, uncaring of what you feel or think, and only wanting information from you." He leaned over her. "Is that the kind of people you wanna defend, Vestara?"

The Sith girl was silent for a few seconds before spitting in Ben's face.

The young Jedi patiently wiped the spit off his face while warily regarding Khai. "I'll take that as a yes," he said.

The door to the medbay opened up, and Jacen stepped in. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he looked at the teenagers with their apprehensive looks.

"Uh... it's my shift now, Ben," Jacen said. "You can go help your father."

Without any acknowledgement, Ben walked past his cousin and left the medbay, leaving Jacen alone with Khai.


	45. Chapter 45

As soon as Ben left the medbay and turned to the direction he knew his father to be working - the engineering section - he found Nommy leaning against a wall in the corridor regarding him.

"Effective interrogation strategy," the Yuuzhan Vong commented sarcastically. "If you kept that up, I'm sure she would have told you what you wanted to know."

Ben rolled his eyes in annoyance and strode past Nommy to head for his father.

The young Jedi was surprised to see the Grand Master just standing in the corridor around the bend rather than working in the engineering section. Luke's gaze was stern as he stared back at his son, causing the latter to stop in his own tracks.

"What is it, Dad?"

"I felt Khai's emotions, Ben," Luke said, his tone displeased. "I've felt what you said and did to her in the medbay."

Ben grimaced. "Yeah, I know, it wasn't the best way to interrogate her-"

"Oh, it's not just that," Luke cut in. "You were unnecessarily cruel to her in a way that didn't forward your investigation. I would think Lon Shevu would have taught you better than that."

Ben's expression sunk. "I... I'm sorry, Dad..."

"Don't apologize to me," Luke said. "Apologize to her." He nodded his head back in the direction of the medbay.

Ben's eyes widened. "But she's-"

"I know who and what she is, Ben," Luke intoned. "And you will apologize to her."

Ben made an aside face, but he relented and nodded. "Yes, sir." He turned back in the direction of the medbay.

"Told you," Nommy said as Ben passed him again. The Jedi ignored the Yuuzhan Vong as he returned to where Khai was held captive.

"Ben, what is it?" Jacen asked as soon as the door to the medbay was open.

"Can you give me some time alone with the prisoner, Jacen?" Ben asked.

Jacen hesitated, but nodded before standing up and leaving the medbay.

Khai turned her head slightly to sneer at Ben. "What do you want?"

"I came to say I'm sorry for what I said to you," Ben said as he approached for tied-down form casually.

Khai made a confused look. "What?"

"I was wrong for being so mean to you," he said. "I guess, because you were a Sith, I thought-"

"What, that that's how we all live?" Khai spat. "Some of us have higher standards, Skywalker."

"I can see that now," Ben admitted. "Say, you wanna go for a walk?"

Khai looked even more confused now. "But your next shift doesn't start-"

"I know, I know," Ben interrupted. "But I'm sure my dad and Jacen will accept this."

.

Acting Jedi Grand Master Kenth Hamner, Master Cilghal, Jedi Knight Tekli, and the six Knights who fell to the Force psychosis that plagued their minds - the Horn siblings, Seff Hellin, Natua Wan, and the two most recent victims, Yaqeel Saav'etu and Bazel Warv - all stood in Chief of State Daala's office facing her. The woman herself was seated behind her desk, scrutinizing them all with that militant appraisal of hers.

"I'm glad to hear that this problem has been resolved, Master Hamner, Master Cilghal," Daala said with rigid formality and nothing more. "For a while there, after Jedi Wan here..." she inclined her head to indicate the female Falleen in the group on the other side of her desk "...wasn't brought into proper Galactic Alliance custody."

Hamner nodded. "And we thank you for your patience and generosity in maintaining diplomatic relationships with us, Chief Daala, even when these fine Knights had suffered this psychosis."

"Yes, it seems that my leniency to your Order came with a payoff," Daala commented before looking at the Mon Calamari. "Master Cilghal, may you inform me exactly how and why these Knights here were cured of their psychosis?"

"I can only offer you what I've felt in their Force auras and mental states, Chief Daala," Cilghal responded diplomatically. "Physically, there's been nothing wrong with them. And while we do not have any strong evidence that it was this Abeloth who had been controlling these Knights, we think that if it was her, then her influence had died off."

"And I'm to assume that Abeloth herself died?" Daala asked.

"It would be a reasonable assumption under the circumstances, yes," Cilghal replied.

"Then I take it that Grand Master Skywalker and his party were successful in neutralizing Abeloth," she said with a slight perfunctory smile. She looked back at Hamner, dropping back into her business face. "Speaking of which, Master Hamner, have you had contact with Master Skywalker since the psychosis was lifted from these Knights?"

Hamner shook his head regretfully. "Unfortunately, no. The last time I contacted Master Skywalker, he informed me that he and his party were going into the Maw, which, as you know, Chief Daala, is frankly impossible to establish any communications with."

Daala nodded in simple understanding. "Tell me, Master Hamner, you Jedi seem to have a lot of your trust in the Force, obviously. Do you know whether or not Master Skywalker would need help returning from the Maw?"

Hamner raised an eyebrow. "As a matter of fact, I have, Chief. Sometime after the Knights were cured, I sensed Master Skywalker reaching out to me through the Force. From what I understood with the contact I had with him then, I got the impression that he needed help. How did you know?"

Daala shrugged. "The Maw is a dangerous place. Wouldn't want the Grand Master of the Jedi Order to not find his way back, eh?"

"Indeed," Hamner agreed neutrally. "I suppose the death warrant will still be out on Jacen Solo and Nom Anor when they return to Coruscant?"

"If Master Skywalker professes that his nephew and his Yuuzhan Vong compatriot are still deserving of that fate, then yes, the death warrant will still be out on them when they return to this planet, Master Hamner," Daala answered. "Anyway, since you told me that you sensed Master Skywalker's call through the Force, I take it that you already have a rescue party sent to the Maw?"

Hamner nodded. "I have. I've tasked Jedi Leia Solo and her husband to pick up Master Skywalker and his party from the Maw."

"Excellent," Daala said. "Is there anything else you feel that you wish to inform me of, Master Hamner?"

The acting Grand Master shook his head. "No, Chief. That's really all I've got."

Daala spent a brief moment scrutinizing Hamner specifically before moving her sights along the other Jedi in the room. Barely a quarter of a minute later, she looked back at the acting Grand Master and nodded. "Very well. You are all dismissed."


	46. Chapter 46

"Need any help there, Uncle Luke?" Jacen asked.

Luke was lying prone on the deck of the _Jade Shadow_ on an open compartment with his arms in them, obviously tinkering with something to try to fix the ship. At the sound of his nephew's voice, he looked up and to his right to find him standing there looking back down at him.

"I thought you were supposed to be looking after the Sith girl for the next four hours," Luke pointed out.

Before Jacen could answer, Ben and Khai appeared around the curve of the corridor behind Luke's nephew, and the teenagers stopped when they saw the Grand Master staring back at them suspiciously.

Luke pushed himself up to his feet and narrowed his focus to Ben. "What are you doing?"

Ben shrugged nervously. "Taking Vestara out for a walk, if that's okay with you, Dad."

"No, that's not okay with me," Luke intoned. "And since when were we on a first name basis with Sith?"

"Sorry, I meant Tyro Khai," Ben corrected. "But why is it so bad if we just go out for a walk?"

"Out in that dangerous jungle?" Luke retorted. "Ben, for all you know, this Sith right here is just going to lead you to your death out there."

"I'll make sure to be extra careful," Ben replied simply.

Luke crossed his arms in a show of superiority.

"Look, Dad-"

"Not another word," Luke interrupted. He looked at Khai. "And you must be a fool if you think I'm just going to let you walk out of this ship with my son like this."

"So why can't I go out by myself?" Khai asked defiantly. "I'll only be risking myself and no one else. And really, what do you need me for anyway? Besides, I can't just get strapped on that medbay table all day with nothing to do to relax my muscles."

"Then retake your guest cabin and pace back and forth, if you have to," Luke said. "The point is, you are not to leave this ship under any circumstance."

"Why not?" Khai asked.

"Because even if you have no other way off this planet, I can never take the risk that you may very well find something on this planet that can benefit you while also screwing us over," Luke argued. "We don't know much about this world, so I prefer to have you in our sights."

"So can I take _Vestara_ back to her cabin, Dad?" Ben asked.

Luke looked back his son's way pointedly. "I expect you out after that, with Jacen looking after her as he should be by now." He looked back at his nephew.

"Hey, I have her in my sights, so I'm not really defying orders here," Jacen said.

"And besides, what's wrong with me looking after her for another four hours or so?" Ben asked.

"Because it's not your shift," Luke enunciated. "In fact, come to think of it, I'll let Jacen guide this Sith back to her cabin and look after her for the next four hours."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "There's something else, isn't there, Dad?"

"I don't want anymore arguments here, Ben," Luke intoned. "Now you will come over to help me while Jacen will escort the Sith to her cabin and look after her for the next four hours, as I just said."

Ben grimaced, but nodded. "Yes, sir," he muttered before leaving Khai's side. He switched places with Jacen before kneeling back down to the compartment that Luke was working on while his cousin pointed in the direction of her cabin.

"And you said your dad wouldn't be hard to convince," Khai said to Ben before turning away with Jacen.

Luke glanced at his son for a few seconds before turning back to his work, Ben helping along now.

"So how long will it take before the _Shadow_'s fully repaired, Dad?" Ben asked, more as a way to ease the tension over what they just talked about than in genuine curiosity.

"A good month or so," Luke answered neutrally, not looking away from the compartment he worked on.

Ben's eyes widened. "But we won't last that long! We don't have the ration bars for that, even if we do consume it minimally and with help from the Force to slow down our metabolisms."

"We don't need to last that long, my son," Luke said. "Han and Leia will be here in a few days; with my Force-connection to your aunt, they'll find us. Besides, even if we did have to hold out for any longer period of time, I'm sure Jacen will be able to help us with that."

"What, you mean like eating him?" Ben asked half-sarcastically.

Luke stopped and looked back at his son. "Ben-"

"We don't need him anymore," Ben interrupted.

"Ben, listen-"

"He fulfilled his duty to the Force, now he can die again. And this time for good, hopefully," Ben growled.

Luke sighed in suppressed frustration. "We keep him alive anyway," he said with authority, "because he has the ability to transform molecules into anything he wants; like proteins and nutrients we can find useful."

Ben looked back at his father curiously. "I didn't know he could do that."

"Well, he can," Luke said. "As a matter of fact, he saved my life with it."

"When was this?"

"Just by the time the Yuuzhan Vong War ended. I was poisoned by the amphistaff of the Vong's Supreme Overlord, or rather their false Supreme Overlord... it's a long story there, but the point is, I was on the verge of death by a venomous substance. I was about to die when Jacen managed to use some tears of his to heal me."

"How did he learn that?" Ben asked.

"Vergere," Luke answered.

"That Fosh woman who helped the Yuuzhan Vong?" Ben guessed. "The one who tried to corrupt the Jedi Order with the idea of the Unifying Force?"

Luke nodded. "She taught him that. And he used it to save me."

"Hardly seems like a dark side act to me," Ben said.

Luke grimaced. "Look, that ability can come useful when he picks up something out there from the jungle later on and makes whatever he brings back edible."

"Makes sense," Ben said before he and his father turned back to their work.


	47. Chapter 47

From inside, Jacen opened the door to Vestara's cabin to find Ben standing there.

"Your turn," Jacen said to his cousin before stepping past him to leave.

Ben entered and closed the door behind him to find Vestara doing one-armed push-ups on the floor. She stopped as soon as she saw Ben and stood up, her face sheen in sweat.

"At least you're keeping active," Ben commented.

Vestara cocked her head. "More to sweat out the toxins your cousin gave me."

Ben's brow furrowed in worry. "What?"

"Just after we entered a few hours ago," Vestara explained, "he suddenly started tearing up for no reason, letting the tears fall into his hands. Next thing I know, he splashes it on me, and I seize up. He'd made some kinda interrogative chemical somehow. Then he..." She trailed off, looking away from Ben.

"What did he do, Vestara?" he asked, growling.

Vestara grimaced. "He asked me where my homeplanet was."

Ben's brow raised in curiosity. "What?"

Vestara sighed and walked to the edge of the cabin's bed, where she sat down and looked at the floor for a while. She then looked back up at the Jedi Knight about her age. "I told him, Ben. I told him where I live, where my people are. I couldn't even resist it. Now your cousin's gonna tell your father where my homeplanet is. And when he does, and when we get out of here, they're gonna get the Jedi Order to organize a strike against it." Her tone was filled with sorrow. "And there's nothing I can do to stop either of them. You saw it; your dad's too powerful to take down on my own, and your cousin just killed an ancient entity almost single-handed. I'm powerless now."

Ben didn't know what to feel right then. On the one hand, he should be angry that his cousin once again betrayed him by temporarily taking over the mind of this girl that he was starting to like. On the other hand, he saw how necessary it was; when there was a whole planet-load of Sith, that was a problem that needed to be taken care of.

The best that Ben could hope for now was that his father reprimanded Jacen for what he did on some level. But with information like the location of where Vestara's people were, Ben doubted that his hated cousin would receive any scolding on this matter.

"I'm sorry," was all he said in response.

Again, Vestara looked back down at the floor and sighed in defeat again. When she looked back up, she asked, "What do you think your father will do to me?"

Ben shrugged. "That depends on you," he told her. "Jedi don't kill enemies who've surrendered unless they offer resistance. If you agree to continue being a cooperative prisoner, you'll most likely spend the rest of your life in a holding cell in either the Jedi Temple or in one of the Galactic Alliance's prisons."

"Unless I decide to be a Jedi," Vestara said, maintaining her defeatist tone.

"Would that be so bad?" Ben asked half-jokingly.

Vestara only offered a look that said, _Are you joking?_

"I see," Ben said, his own expression turning slightly dour.

Vestara sighed again. "Might as well get back to working out. What else have I gotta do?" She stood up and dropped prone to the floor to resume her push-ups.

Ben just leaned back against the wall behind him, crossed his arms, and simply watched.

When Vestara was done a little while later, she stood back up and said, "I think I got all your cousin's toxins outta me. I'm gonna take a shower now." She leveled a gaze up at Ben. "Wanna watch?"

Ben's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

Vestara smirked. "You like that word. 'What.' You do have to keep watch on me, after all."

"I don't think it needs to go that far," Ben countered awkwardly. "There's certainly no way outta the 'fresher than through the way you'll go in."

"Fine then," Vestara replied with something on her face that Ben couldn't quite understand. She then turned away and headed for the 'fresher.

As soon as he heard the shower running, Ben turned and left the cabin to search the _Jade Shadow_ for both his father and cousin. He found them moments later in the cockpit, where they were working on fixing the console. They turned to face him at his approach.

"What are you doing away from your assigned post so soon, Jedi Skywalker?" Luke asked with full authority in his voice.

"Did Jacen tell you what he learned from Ves- Tyro Khai?" Ben asked, crossing his arms in defiance.

"As a matter of fact, he did, but I don't see what that has to do with-"

"Did he tell you how he got it?" Ben interrupted.

"He did." Luke nodded.

Ben's eyes widened in shock. "And you're okay with this?"

"When it comes to a plan-load of Sith, Ben," Luke said, "I'll look past some minor indiscretions even on Jacen's part."

Ben then looked at his cousin. "Then why didn't you at least tell me about this?"

"You're growing too fond of that girl, Ben," Jacen said. "She's too dangerous, you know. With what I had to do to her to get the information we needed, I knew you would have done a lot more to have prevented it."

"You mean like trying to kill you again?" Ben asked.

"The possibility came to mind," Jacen answered.

"Now the question remains," Luke cut in, "is why you're away from your assigned duty."

"Tyro Khai is taking a shower," Ben answered. "She won't be a threat or try to escape."

Luke and Jacen went silent for a moment, reaching out to the Force to feel that Vestara was indeed in her cabin's shower. A moment longer passed before they both confirmed that, yes, it wasn't anything like a Force-illusion or trick meant to trick even a more assertive scan; she really was there.

Which was what suddenly led to a spike of alarm coming from Vestara's presence.

Ben quickly turned back and raced down the corridor back for the Sith's cabin, uncaring of whether or not his father or cousin were following him, before crossing the bedroom for the refresher. He palmed open the door for the 'fresher and rushed in, where he then found a naked Vestara lying in the water pouring over her from overhead, with blood running from the back of her head.

Hurriedly, Ben lifted her out of the shower, headed back for the bedroom, held her body up in the air with the Force to keep her afloat while he took one of the bedsheets, then wrapped it around her to keep her modest before pulling her back into his arms. He then rushed out of the cabin, finding that neither Luke nor Jacen decided to follow him in spite of the alarm coming from the Sith, and wordlessly rushed off to the medbay.


	48. Chapter 48

Ben stared at Vestara's comatose body, still wrapped up in the bedsheets he got from her cabin, as she lay on the examination table with a bacta patch on the back of her head where her wound was. She was hooked on a heart monitor, which registered normal beeps every two seconds or so.

The young Jedi looked away from the comatose Sith to regard his father and cousin standing at the doorway leading out of the medbay. "Why didn't either of you respond when you felt that?"

"That spike of alarm coming from her?" Jacen asked. He shrugged. "It took us less than a second to realize what it was. Personally, I didn't react because, hey, less Sith there are, the better."

Ben looked shocked before looking at Luke. "Did you hear what he just said?"

"Very clearly," Luke replied. "And frankly, that's why I didn't react either."

"But you would've been murderers!" Ben pointed out. "You reached out to her, probed her mind, and you scared her into slipping in the shower of all things, even if you didn't mean it! And then you would've just let her die?!" Then his eyes shrunk back when looking solely upon Jacen. "Oh, wait, I forgot about you being a murderer," he said snidely.

Jacen ignored the remark.

"Listen, Ben," Luke said, "regardless of whether or not _Vestara_-" he used her name as if it were a point of discipline to his son "-is a cooperative prisoner, the fact remains is that she's still a Sith."

"So it's okay to just let her die then?" Ben asked.

Neither Luke nor Jacen answered. Ben's mouth then dropped in disbelief.

"I don't believe this," the young Jedi growled.

"Think about it, Ben," Luke said. "When the coming battle against the Sith comes, this girl here will be too much of a hindrance to look after by the time she awakens." He looked over at the 2-1B droid over in the corner. "Isn't that right?"

"She will awaken after a day or so, Master Skywalker, as I have told you," the droid confirmed.

Luke turned his attention back to his son. "So do you think, that when the Jedi finally confront the Sith, my son, that Vestara is just going to lay back and let her people be wiped out?"

Ben grimaced. "Of course it's gonna lead to that," he said with defeat. "So you think I wasted my time saving her."

"I don't condemn what you did," Luke said.

"Neither do I," Jacen backed up.

"But just know, Ben, that when the time comes, you will have to find out for yourself to loosen your attachment from this girl," Luke said.

"I will be ready for that," Ben said all too quickly. "I was simply following the Jedi way of helping life, even if it is for a Sith."

"Admirable, but admittedly foolish," Luke said, much to his son's chagrin. "Still, it would go against our grain to simply murder her before she wakes up, or before she even intends to turn against us. Now, do you have anything more to say to us, Ben?"

Ben sighed. "No, Dad."

"Good," Luke replied. "Then Jacen and I will return to our own duties. You continue to keep watch on Vestara, in case she wakes up early." With that, he and his nephew left the medbay.

And entering upon their exit was Nommy, regarding Ben with wry amusement, which the Jedi returned with mild scorn.

"I see you still harbor quite a lot of resentment against your cousin, even after all he did on this mission so far," the Yuuzhan Vong pointed out. "I understand why, don't get me wrong, but keep in mind, it's not like Jacen tortured Vestara of the information on her homeworld."

"He still made her act against her will," Ben blurted.

Nommy nodded in acknowledgement. "But really, you're just using it as an excuse to fume at your cousin still even as your father approves of his return."

Ben bared his teeth angrily. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Honestly, I don't," Nommy replied simply. "Really, since we returned, neither your father or Jacen needed me, since I don't know squat about artificial technology. So I've just been watching some porn on my datapad, for your information. But tell me, do you hate that your father fell back so quickly into trusting your cousin, the man who killed his wife, your mother?"

"Shut. Up," Ben enunciated.

Nommy brought up his hands in a signal of surrender. "Fine, fine," he said. "You don't want to talk, I understand. I'll take my leave then." He turned and left, leaving a fuming Ben staring back at the closed door.

"Ben?"

The young Knight quickly whirled around to find Vestara sitting up on the medical table, holding the bedsheets he placed around her close to her form. The 2-1B then began trundling across the room to reach the awakened Sith.

"Tyro Khai, you must lay back down and-"

Ben cut the droid off from saying anymore or from traveling anymore as he reached out through the Force to first shut off his vocabulator before flipping his shutdown switch. He then looked back at Vestara.

"I heard your conversation, with your dad and cousin," she told him with a sad smile. "Thanks for saving me."

"Uh, you're welcome," he said awkwardly. "But say, shouldn't you have at least another day before-"

"The Force works wonders, as you should know by now, Ben," Vestara cut him off. She sighed. "You know, I really mean it when I thanked you just now. But, like your dad said, I won't just sit back when my people begin dying." She reached out through the Force for Ben's lightsaber, which flew from his belt and into her hand.

But before Ben could react, Vestara just as quickly dropped the pommel when she groaned and seized up. A few seconds later, her eyes were pained and bloodshot, as Ben could see when she looked at him.

"Ben... help me..."

At that moment, Luke and Jacen rushed in and stopped when they saw what was happening to Vestara.

And what happened to her was her death; inexplicably, she dissolved to nothing more than a puddle of carbohydrates that sloshed down and over the medical table.

Whirling away, Ben stared hard at his cousin. "You did this," he growled.

Jacen nodded soberly. "I made that as a trigger in the event she committed any act against any of us, a little bonus to my interrogative toxins," he explained. "And you can't sweat that off either."

Ben's growl intensified before turning back to where Vestara died, used the Force to retrieve his lightsaber, then turned back and activated it. But just as quickly, the weapon was yanked from his hands and flew right into his father's grip, deactivating upon arrival.

"No, Ben," Luke said. "You know better than that."

Ben's mouth dropped from speechlessness before turning back and collapsing to his knees. He remained silent there for several moments, not even sobbing. Luke and Jacen both took that as their cue to leave him alone for a while.


	49. Chapter 49

Getting out of his cabin simply to stretch his legs, Nommy wandered the halls of the still-damaged _Jade Shadow_ and made his way for the cockpit. He stopped in curiosity once he saw that Luke and Jacen were walking on some type of machinery that the Yuuzhan Vong wasn't familiar with a little ways away from the cockpit.

"Don't you two ever take any breaks?" Nommy asked them.

"We already had one, about half an hour ago," Luke answered without turning away from his work. He was doing something to the machine with a welding torch. "We're pretty rested up now."

"Okay," Nommy nodded before turning to head the other way. He stopped and turned back to the humans and asked, "Say, shouldn't your son be with you by now, Master Skywalker?"

Luke stopped what he was doing, as did Jacen, and they set their tools down on the deck to turn to Nommy.

"Ben needs some time alone, Nommy," Jacen said.

The Yuuzhan Vong raised an eyebrow in query. "How much time?"

Both humans shrugged. "Not sure. When he's ready, I guess," Luke answered. "Hopefully, he'll be out of his cabin by the time we get out of here, just to let us know he'll get over the Sith girl's death."

"The Sith girl died?" Nommy asked. "What happened?"

"Remember what happened to Onimi?" Jacen asked.

"I'll always remember what happened to Onimi," Nommy said with a grim hint to his tone.

"Well, that's kind of what happened to Khai," Jacen elaborated. "You see, after I used my interrogative toxins on her, I gave her this hidden toxin in her system that would kill her if she ever tried to betray us."

"And you didn't let her know about this why?" Nommy asked.

While Luke remained stoic and neutral, Jacen sighed and looked to the deck for a second before facing Nommy again. "I didn't tell her because of Ben."

"What does he have to do with this?" Nommy inquired.

"He and the girl have been rather fond of each other lately," Luke said.

"I still don't understand why she shouldn't have known that she had a fail-safe toxin in her that killed her for being treacherous," Nommy pressed. "You know, other than being a Sith, of course, given how cooperative she was beforehand."

"Because if I told her, she would've let Ben known," Jacen said. "And if she would've let Ben know, he may very well have considered acting against us, particularly me, for what I did to her. It was bad enough that she let Ben know that I interrogated her to begin with."

"Well, why couldn't you just use a toxin that would've wiped out her memory of the event then, Jacen?" Nommy asked.

Jacen shook his head. "Her mind was too powerful. While I managed to control her will, her Force-intuition would've led her to find out the truth sooner or later anyway."

Nommy looked at Luke. "And you were okay with all this?"

"Given Ben's attitude toward Jacen here, it was a risk that I saw that wasn't entirely implausible," Luke said. "The girl would've used what Jacen did to her to her advantage in seducing Ben, and possibly leading him to the dark side of the Force."

"It sounds to me that leaving the girl out of what inevitably killed her to be a bit Sith-like in and of itself," Nommy commented.

Luke took a deep breath to control himself over what the Yuuzhan Vong just said, while Jacen sheepishly avoided eye contact with his companion from Zonama Sekot.

"But you know, now that girl is dead," Nommy continued to Jacen, "don't you think Ben will turn to the dark side, especially since you didn't tell her?"

"If he does," Luke intoned, "at least we won't have a proper Sith to deal with in the process."

"Provided he doesn't turn while we're neutralizing Kesh," Jacen said. "Never mind if he doesn't turn at all."

"Kesh?" Nommy asked.

"The Lost Tribe of the Sith's homeworld," Jacen answered. "We're gonna take it out to defeat the Sith there."

"You mean destroy them," Nommy said.

"If necessary," Luke input.

The Yuuzhan Vong nodded. "I see. You know, thinking that Ben might turn to the dark side over what you did to the girl seems a bit farfetched, in my opinion. Then again, given how emotional teenagers, particularly humans, are, and given how they're so prone to nonsensical hysterics, I guess you have a point." He then shook his head in wry amusement. "Teenagers, huh?"

"You have no idea," Luke responded sardonically. He then looked at his nephew. "Speaking of which, Jacen, something just came to mind; do you remember when I asked you, before we went on this mission, why the Force saw fit to bring you back from the dead if you died in the first place? You mentioned something about Vergere. Do you have a guess as to what she has to do with any of this?"

"As a matter of fact, I do, Uncle Luke," Jacen answered with an affirmative nod. "You see, I think I fell in the first place because, even after I knew that I could never again achieve what I felt when I killed Onimi, I still moved on to regain it rather than to truly expand my view on the Force. And in that, it took death to bring me back to the straight-and-narrow, with Allana acting as the key to my resurrection as much as Zonama Sekot and Danni Quee were."

"Allana?" Luke asked. "You mean that time she and your parents were on Tandun Three before it blew up?"

Jacen nodded. Shortly before his resurrection, Allana, Han, and Leia - along with two drifters, Tobb Jadak and Flitcher Poste - were on the now-destroyed world of Tandun III looking for a treasure that Jadak and Poste were looking for. During their brief stay there, Allana had gotten into some danger, which required her to reach out to Jacen's spirit with Leia and receive help, something that proved to save her life.

"Her reaching out to me began my advancement toward my redemption," Jacen said.

"But what does any of that have to do with Vergere?" Nommy asked.

"My death was the result of my failure to fully understand her teachings," Jacen said. "I understood what she said when she told me that everything she said was a lie; that the truth was always bigger than the words we used to express them, or what we could comprehend from the truth itself. But again, I failed to follow through after I killed Onimi and went on my sojourn. And because of that, I let Lumiya's real lies corrupt me into believing that the path to Sithhood was something that Vergere always intended for me."


	50. Chapter 50

Two days after Vestara's death, the _Millennium Falcon_ had arrived in the system that had harbored Abeloth. From there, it was a simple matter for Han Solo to pilot his legendary YT-1300 down through the jungle planet's atmosphere, use some lasers to blast away a group of trees in front of the derelict _Jade Shadow_, and settle down behind the latter ship. From there, the _Falcon_ fired out a towing cable from a compartment in its rear and attached it to the _Shadow_'s nose via magnetic sealing between the tip of the cable and the vessel named after Mara Jade Skywalker.

Soon, the _Shadow_'s crew disembarked from the ship with a reluctant and dour-faced Ben following along. Less than a minute later, they were all aboard the _Falcon_, where they were met by Han, Leia, C-3PO, and Allana.

Only Allana was happy to see her father as she rushed toward him, hugging him in an instant. Jacen, by then, had already bent down to return his daughter's embrace.

"I'm sorry I hated you, Daddy," she said, not breaking away from the hug.

"It's okay, Allana, it's okay," Jacen whispered. "I don't blame you."

The rest of them decided to leave parent and child alone and headed for the _Falcon_'s forward section. While Han, Leia, and Threepio stationed themselves in the cockpit in the positions of pilot, copilot, and navigator respectively, Luke, Ben, and Nommy sat themselves down in the ship's lounge section. Ben decided to sit himself in the furthest corner away from his father and the Yuuzhan Vong, even though there were no seats in the area where placed himself.

Neither Luke nor Nommy said a word to the teenager, just as he didn't say anything to them. The comfortably-seated duo didn't even make eye contact with Ben, who was just okay with that in avoiding eye contact with them in turn.

"You know, Master Skywalker," Nommy said, "it seems unfair that the Force saw fit to grant Jacen a second chance in life, and thus redemption, but Khai didn't."

Luke looked at the Yuuzhan Vong. "And what of it?"

Nommy shrugged. "It just seems hypocritical to me, is all. I mean, Jacen and I get to redeem ourselves, but that Sith girl didn't?"

Before Luke could reply, the _Falcon_ was taking off, and Jacen and Allana arrived in time to join the Grand Master and the Yuuzhan Vong around the sabacc table that doubled as the lounge area. Nommy repeated what he just noted to Luke for Jacen's benefit.

Jacen shrugged. "I guess the Force saw her as being too unworthy of redemption. It's not exactly a comforting thought, that not everyone is worthy, but it happens."

Luke nodded. "After all, Vestara was born and raised a Sith. I honestly doubt she would have been worthy of being a Jedi apprentice to begin with."

Ben didn't react visibly to his father's comment, which wasn't even directed at him. Inwardly, though, the teenager was seething in contempt.

"Unless, of course, the Force decides that Khai just needed to die before coming back for redemption," Nommy said, sparing a brief glance at Jacen.

At that point, the _Falcon_ escaped the planet's gravitational fold and leaped for hyperspace.

.

A few days later, the _Falcon_ returned to Coruscant with the _Jade Shadow_ still attached to it on the tow between them. After the YT-1300 dropped the still-damaged luxury yacht off at the nearest starship repair shop from the Jedi Temple, the _Falcon_ parked on top of the Temple itself with much fanfare ringing it. Jedi and media spectators alike surrounded the YT-1300 to report the return of Luke Skywalker, Jacen Solo, and Nom Anor from the Maw.

After everyone aboard the _Falcon_ disembarked in an attempt to wave past the paparazzi, the crowd before them parted before the intimidating presence of Chief of State Daala and an entourage of Galactic Alliance Security personnel trailing her. All the noise by the media hounds was silenced as they listened in to hear what their Chief of State had to say.

"Grand Master Skywalker," she proclaimed from everyone the crowd to hear, "am I really safe to assume that you were successful in your mission?"

"We have been, Chief Daala," Luke answered. "Abeloth is no more."

"Then I hope you won't mind if we bring in your nephew and Nom Anor for their crimes," she said. From her tone, it was obvious that it wasn't a request, especially when several GAS guards began roaming past her to arrest Jacen and Nommy.

"Wait," Luke said.

Daala waved the guards off from cuffing either Luke's nephew or the Yuuzhan Vong. She nodded for the Grand Master to go on.

"I know that they will get a fair trial," he intoned, "and if they are both deemed guilty and aren't looked upon for making up for what they've both done in the past, given this mission, what will the sentence be?"

"Death," Daala answered simply.

"And if I vouch for them," Luke said, "will their sentences be reduced to something a lot less severe?"

Daala nodded. "Life in solitary confinement, for the both of them."

"I see," Luke replied. "Then what if I told you that their destinies are not fated in solitary cells?"

Daala stifled a look of annoyance. "Master Skywalker, have you received a vision from the Force informing you that their fates will be otherwise, regardless of what outcome will be decided be a judge and jury in a court of law?"

"As a matter of fact, I have," Luke answered. "Just before we reentered this system."

"And what are their destinies to be then?" Daala asked, an undercurrent of hatred for the Jedi Order in general showing in her tone.

"To continue to make up for what they've done, but not in a prison cell, or by death itself," Luke said. "But out in the field, under the service of the Jedi Order and the Galactic Alliance, fighting the forces that would dare threaten to pull this galaxy apart." He then looked away from the Chief of State to two Jedi Knights; one a female Arcona, the other a female human. "Isn't that correct, Jedi Razelle, Jedi Altamik?"

Both Vaala Razelle - the Arcona - and Turi Altamik - the human - behind the _Falcon_'s crew nodded. "Zonama Sekot herself confirmed it for us, and by extension, the Jedi Order, Master Skywalker," Turi said.

"Indeed, your nephew, Jacen, is not lying about his resurrection, or the validity of his want to make amends," Vaala backed up.

"Indeed," Luke said as he looked back at Daala. "And as of now, Jacen will now be returned to the Jedi Order at the level of Knight."

At that, everyone in the media around them began hollering a mix of questions, protests, and cheers before both Luke and Daala waved them down so they could speak again.

"So," the Chief of State said, "what now then, Master Skywalker?" For the barest of seconds, Daala flashed a predatory snarl before just as quickly returning to her formal stance.

"Now, Chief Daala," Luke said, "the Jedi must prepare for the Sith." He quickly elaborated on the presence of the Lost Tribe of the Sith. "Would you like to donate any forces from the government to support us in our effort against the Lost Tribe?"

Again, Daala stifled something, and it was a growl this time. "The Galactic Alliance would be happy to do that, Master Skywalker," she replied reluctantly.

.

Repaired, the _Jade Shadow_ was now ready to depart with the _Millennium Falcon_, the Jedi StealthX fleet, and the Galactic Alliance's Fifth Fleet from the Coruscant system to the far-off system of Kesh.

After all the reports coming in that confirmed the whole flotilla's readiness, Luke looked over at Jacen and saw his nephew seeming to drift off into space - figuratively speaking, of course. While most would think that he was dazing, Luke knew that his nephew was having a Force-vision right then; and from the looks of it, a very positive one.

It was only a moment before Jacen came out of the trance.

"What did you see?" Luke asked with a warm smile.

Jacen returned it. "I see total victory over darkness. Not just over the Lost Tribe, but of this other sect of Sith, one that hides in the shadows and bides its time. They will fall, and in their wakes, the Jedi will be the ones to hold the Force in balance again. At least for a while."

Luke looked concerned. "For a while?"

Jacen's expression became regretful. "Balance has to be maintained between the light and dark, Uncle Luke, in some form or another. That was the way that led to the downfall of Yoda's order, and then with Palpatine's, so that this Order's members can serve as guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy. One day, this Order will fall before the throes of darkness, just as that darkness will also be defeated to be replaced by the light. At least for a short time."

"We can never have peace for long in this galaxy, huh?" Luke asked wearily.

"That's the price of freedom and sentience," Jacen said.

"Hey, Luke, you ready there, kid?" Han's voice came from the _Shadow_'s comm console.

"Yes, yes, Han, we'll be ready in thirty seconds," Luke answered before looking back at his nephew.

"Do you see a bright future ahead for most of us?" Luke asked.

Jacen nodded. "Ben will become a great Jedi. And the Yuuzhan Vong will regain the Force completely; Nommy will see to that."

"And you?"

Jacen shrugged. "I'll be glad I can finally see peace for the rest of my life."

Luke nodded before looking back to the viewport ahead. He soon engaged the _Shadow_'s hyperdrive and shot off with the rest of the fleet behind him.


End file.
